Choices
by Haruka's Knight
Summary: This is an AU tale centered around Haruka and Michiru. It's all about choices, mostly those which aren't in their hands... Please read and review.
1. Introduction

**Author's Note: **That's right, I'm back again and with another story of one of our favorite couples. I haven't run out of ideas yet, though I really need to work on some original (meaning non-fan fiction) stuff. I have a new computer, which I am paying off slowly (winces) and it didn't work with my internet service so I've had some extra writing time.

Enjoy.

**Choices:**

**By: Haruka's Knight**

**Chapter one**

**Introduction:**

The blonde pulled her golden convertible up in front of the Tokyo mansion with a sigh. Things here had been tense for a long time and she'd enjoyed the escape allowed by her private apartment and her career. Teal eyes looked up and noticed the figure standing in a third story window glaring at her.

"It's nice to see you too, big brother." She muttered as she grabbed her duffle bag and climbed from the driver's seat. A lot of clothes weren't necessary even if she ended up staying long, her grandmother always made sure the closet of her old room was kept ready for her return and failing that she had been encouraged to raid her father's old clothes. The later was a bit on the creepy side, by she knew it was just he grandmother's excuse to hang on to one more bit the son she'd lost.

"Welcome back, Haruka-san." A stiff butler greeted her as he pulled the door open, though she caught the smallest hint of a smile on the man's face. He was older, around her father's age and had been at his current job for longer than the blonde could remember.

"Thank you, Ichiro-san." Haruka stepped inside and paused, taking in the mansion's front hall and the conflicting memories that came with it. She shook it off and focused on the moment again, and the figure approaching her. Her grandmother, Maiko Tenoh, looked somewhat frailer then she remembered but Haruka still had the respect to bow to the woman.

"Welcome back Haruka." Her grandmother waved a hand toward the stairs and a tight smile crossed her lips. "It's getting late and your room is ready. I'll explain why you're here tomorrow."

At Tokyo international a young woman was gracefully walking across a boarding ramp, disembarking from her long plane flight. In one hand she carried a leather covered case, the name Michiru Kaioh was pressed into the leather. Her dress was deep blue, much like the color of her own eyes, and her aqua hair was down draping just over her shoulders. Eyes seemed to turn to her from all corners of the terminal as she strode toward baggage claim.

The young, world renowned, violin player paused a few times to politely sign a few autographs. On the other hand she ignored or politely turned down offers for dates and requests for her number. All in all she made it to baggage claim with out real incident only to find her parents limo driver already pulling the last of her luggage onto a cart.

"Michiru-sama." The slightly older man bowed, tipping his hat at the same time. "I'm glad you've arrived safely miss. How was your plane flight?"

"Long and tiring." Michiru sighed as he started to push the cart, leading her toward the airport doors. She caught sight of a few camera men and grimaced. "How do they already know I'm here?"

"Your parents called them miss." The limo driver paused when Michiru halted. He pitied the young woman, knowing all too well that she'd probably just like a good night's sleep at this hour. After a moment he cleared is throat and nodded toward a side door labeled emergency exit.

"I think I need to freshen up." Michiru smiled as she realized what the man was suggesting. She really wasn't one for causing scenes, but if she was choosing between a media circus and breaking a little rule about exit doors she knew which she'd choose. "Can you take the bags to the car and load them for me?"

"Of course miss." The man returned her smile as he accepted her prized violin. "It won't take me more than five minutes."

Michiru walked off to the women's restroom, taking as long as she could to wash her face and reapply her make up. She almost cursed herself for not having put on a watch this morning before her trip, but she didn't see the point with the number of times zones she had to cross. Satisfied with her reflection, and that she'd wasted a large amount of time, she gracefully left the restroom.

It happened the restrooms were only ten feet from the door her parents' limo driver had indicated, so no one seemed to notice her destination. Or they didn't until Michiru pushed the door open and an alarm sounded inside the baggage claim area. She walked through, allowing the door to swing closed behind her and walking quickly to the waiting limo. She stepped in through the door being held open for her and nodded to the man before he calmly shut it.

The last thing she noticed as they were pulling away from Tokyo international was a group of reporters rounding the building corner. She settled back into the comfortable seat of the limo as classical music began to float through the speakers and sighed. She still had no idea why her parents had been so insistent she return to Tokyo but it was too late at night to worry about that now. Instead she rested her eyes and just enjoyed the calm before the storm.


	2. Brothers

**Dedication: I may have forgotten to mention this story is dedicated to Neptune's Mask.**

**Chapter Two: Brothers**

Hiroshi Tenoh may once have been a happy child, even during a time when his father had been a heavy drinker the boy had his mother. That worked, until he was four years old and his mother started to feel sick each morning. Young Hiroshi didn't understand why exactly his father seemed to suddenly start getting help with his drinking, or why his parents didn't argue as much as they had before. All he knew was that nine months down the road his father brought home a baby girl and his mother had to spend loads of time in the hospital.

Things changed radically for the young boy, he even found himself suddenly enrolled in preschool and that neither of his parents seemed to have much time for him. To spite this he still initially loved to be around the blonde wobbly little girl with her teal eyes shining at him. In fact, it was hard to pin point when that had changed. Maybe it was when Hiroshi got older and began to realize that his sister's delivery contributed to their mother's death, or the fact that when it was time for her to start school Haruka was home schooled for a number of years.

Whatever the reason, the young doctor now glared toward the young woman across the living room. He'd humored his grandmother and stayed home this afternoon, knowing well what he may lose if he didn't, but he hated having to be around his younger "brother". It always seemed that the blonde was given what she wanted somehow things seemed to work out for her. Or maybe it was that she seemed to refuse to fail, other than one slip in morals Haruka didn't seem human. Hiroshi knew though, he knew the one thing she hid more closely than her gender and why.

"Hiroshi, Haruka I want you both to be as nice as possible to the Kaioh family." Their Grandmother addressed the two Tenoh heirs. Maiko's gray eyes were stern as she shook a finger toward her grandchildren. "The Kaioh Family has invested a lot of money in the hospital your grandfather started and a marriage between our families would insure our family keeps a controlling share."

"So this is all over money and property?" Haruka voiced what both siblings were thinking, though Hiroshi was more egger inside his mind then the young racer sounded. He fixed his brown eyes on the tom-boy, noting if anything that she looked more masculine since she'd moved from their family home.

"No, the Kaiohs were good friends to this family before you were born. Hiroshi used to play with their nephew before your mother died." Maiko stood and straightened her kimono as the door bell chimed. "Remember, I want you on your best behavior until their visit is over."

"And when will that be?" Hiroshi muttered as he stood and tugged at his tie.

"When ever they feel like leaving young man." Maiko glared at her grandson before shuffling into the front hall, her grandchildren not far behind. Ichiro was greeting two people as bright sunlight flooded into the front hall blinding the three Tenohs for a few moments. Hiroshi blinked and raised a hand to shield his eyes so he could get his first look at the Kaioh family.

'This is going to be easy.' He thought to himself as he smiled toward the older couple on the door step.

"Suguru-kun, Saki-chan! It's so good to see you two again!" Haruka listened to her grandmother speak to the two as if they were still so young. For their part the two smiled and bowed politely to the older woman.

"It's an honor be here, Tenoh-sama." The man spoke as he bowed, deep blue eyes twinkling happily toward Maiko. His dark hair had a shot of gray in it and there was a line or two on his face but all in all Suguru Kaioh looked younger than Haruka expected.

"It's been too long, Tenoh-sama." Saki Kaioh spoke as she too bowed. Her brown eyes were more serious than her husbands, even as her red kimono seemed more factitive than his gray business suit. Her hair, which draped to nearly her mid back, was nearly as dark as her husbands, though there wasn't a hint of gray in her locks. "And who are these two fine young men?"

"May I present my grandsons? I believe you've already met Hiroshi." Maiko first waved Hiroshi forward as the darker Tenoh bowed toward the two. "He's a doctor at Tenchi and I let him sit in at the last board meeting."

"Yes. Good to see you again Hiroshi-san." Saki spoke as Suguru seemed to size the older Tenoh heir up visually. Hiroshi had taken to cropping his hair close to his scalp and shaving every morning. He wore a slightly wrinkled, though expensive, suit which was black and seemed to easily present the image of a somewhat tired young doctor. The only problem, Haruka mentally assessed, was that Hiroshi looked older than he actually was.

"And this is Haruka. He has been away for some time on business." Maiko waved Haruka forward and she could already see gears cranking in the Kaiohs' minds. One son looks too old while the other seems much younger, Haruka thought as she bowed. Not that it mattered to the blonde; she was only here to make the family look unified for their guests.

"This is little Haruka-kun?" Suguru voiced the statement in a surprised tone as he stepped forward and eyed the young blonde. Haruka was brought her teal eyes up and noticed Suguru was level with her, landing him just an inch shorter than Hiroshi. The man smiled at her in a way that reminded the blonde of her late father. "To have heard your father talk about you I'd have thought you were still a little boy. What business are you in?"

"I race professionally." Haruka answered honestly and saw the same look she'd received from her grandmother that first time. It wasn't precisely disapproving so much as disbelieving. Why would the heir to a fortune want to risk life and limb in such a field? Most people saw Hiroshi's career as the far more sensible choice.

"You race cars?" Saki asked her tone having lost it's cool in her own moment of shock.

"I started with dirt bikes and motor cross racing, I'm a five time champion on my motorcycle." Haruka could swear she could hear her grandmother's oncoming lecture later. "However this past season was my rookie year behind the wheel of a professional car. I have a few Tokyo based sponsors now."

"Haruka is being modest." Maiko said in a happy tone, she caught both her grandchildren off guard with her next words. "He finished his rookie year as a first time champion and I'm sure he has been fighting off sponsors from all over."

"Well, that's a bit dangerous." Suguru commented with a laugh. Haruka nodded absently as Maiko asked where their daughter was. The two replied calmly, being led further in the house even as the blonde slipped toward the door. In front of the steps was a polished black limo and a young woman seemed to be fighting with something in the trunk as the driver apologized again and again.

"Something wrong?" Haruka asked, walking up behind the two and causing them both to jump. The driver and the young woman both turned to her and Haruka found herself frozen in place for a moment. The young woman before her looked to be 5'4" with a set of deep blue eyes, aqua hair cascaded lightly over her shoulders and she wore an intricately decorated blue and gold kimono. The blonde bit her tongue and suppressed the urge to let her eyes rove across the young woman's figure.

"I'm sorry Tenoh-san." The driver seemed to be guessing; of course it was a safe bet as Haruka was wearing a blue Italian suit with gold cuff links and a golden Rolex on her wrist. Most people she doubted would mistake her for the butler currently. "I'm afraid we seem to have buried Kaioh-sama's violin case."

"Well, why don't I help you lift this luggage off of it then?" Haruka smiled and bowed formally toward the beautiful young woman before her. She might just enjoy what seemed like a family duty if it meant getting to know the young woman. "I'm Haruka Tenoh."

"Michiru Kaioh, and I think you already met my parents." The young woman replied, smiling politely toward the blonde before stepping back. She watched as Haruka and the limo driver easily lifted several pieces of heavy luggage from the trunk in search of the priceless Stradivarius her mother had insisted on placing there. She winced at the horrible images of what could have happened to her violin.

"I think we've got it." Haruka said, glancing over her shoulder and forcing a smile for the other young woman. She waved her forward and gestured toward the trunk, where a leather cover violin case had safely wedged itself into the place where a spare tire once set. "It seems to be intact."

"Thank you Tenoh-san." Michiru said as she was handed the violin. Again the blonde smiled and bowed.

"Please call me Haruka; there are too many Tenohs inside Miss Kaioh." Haruka said reverting to the more western style speech she seemed to favor.

"Thank you Haruka-san and you can call me Michiru."

"Master Haruka!" They both looked up to find Ichiro standing half way down the steps and approaching them. "You grandmother is looking for you. Lunch is ready and she wants everyone to eat in the dining hall today."

"Thank you Ichiro-san." Haruka looked again to the young woman next to her and offered her arm. "May I escort you, Michiru-san?"

Hiroshi glanced up from his conversation with Suguru as Haruka entered, and he'd have ignored her entrance completely if not for the young woman on her arm. Maiko seemed pleased as Haruka politely led Michiru to the table and pulled out a chair for the young woman, she looked back toward Hiroshi and her words echoed in the man's mind again. The twenty-seven year old doctor wasn't worried though, after all Suguru and Saki seemed greatly interested in what he had to say.

Michiru was happy when lunch and the day in general, were over. She mulled over her fate and any possible escape as she stepped from her guest room's shower. She pulled on a robe and felt a headache coming on as she relived this morning in her mind. She'd thought that her parents were joking at first but it soon was clear they were dead serious about this whole issue.

"_What do you mean I'm engaged?" Michiru stood and looked straight into her brown eyes with indignation. "When did this happen?"_

"_It was agreed before you were even conceived." Saki replied as if it was a natural detail the young woman should have expected to face someday. "This marriage would benefit both families, besides which your father and I have known the Tenoh family since before we were married."_

"_Tenoh?"_

"_The family which founded and owns the controlling share of Tenchi Hospital in Tokyo." Suguru provided as he saw his daughter seemingly more confused. He sighed and waved to her chair, knowing that if he let it go his wife and daughter could continue to argue this all day. "Sit down hime."_

"_Why didn't I know this?" Michiru asked, her blue eyes looking to her father's. He'd always been far calmer as a parent than her mother had._

"_We didn't see a need to say anything until you started dating, when you never brought anyone home it must have just slipped our notice." Suguru looked at his wife as she took her seat again and returned to drinking her tea. "Things were so hectic around the time you were born, and after a while the Tenohs seemed to almost pull into their own world. It's been years but we used to visit their home on holidays."_

"_So why is this coming up now?" Michiru said, shaking off the new information and turning toward her current predicament._

"_We'd agreed that our children would marry on your twenty-second birthday." Saki smiled, thinking perhaps her daughter had seen reason. "When Tenoh-sama and I spoke she reminded me that we may need to visit for more than one reason."_

"_Tenoh-sama has two grandsons, one of which is a doctor at Tenchi Hospital." Suguru took a drink of his coffee and sighed. "When the idea was agreed there was only one, but now we know nothing about the brothers aside from Hiroshi Tenoh's career field. Haruka-kun, however, we've never even laid eyes on."_

"_So I'm engaged but no one decided to which brother?" Michiru wanted to scream as her mother smiled at her. "Isn't this tradition outdated?"_

"_Regardless of your views young lady, we gave our word and you'll marry either Haruka or Hiroshi." Saki's tone left no room for argument as she stood. "We'll leaving today to spend some time with the Tenoh family so your father and I can chose which one is best for you. If you think it's outdated, then you can change it with your children."_

Michiru was brought from flashback by the sound of a soft thump in the hall. She walked over and eased her door open a crack, noticing how dark the hall was and seeing two figures standing in the dark. She listened and started to pick up on the quiet conversation.

"Why did you even bother to come? I sure as hell don't need you here." The first voice sounded angry.

"Grandma called me and asked me to come; I'm not here to cause any problems Hiroshi." That was Haruka, Michiru was oddly sure of it.

"Drop the good guy act Haru-chan, I know you're here to win her over." Hiroshi growled back.

"Win who over, Grandma?" Haruka, whom Michiru realized was the slightly shorter figure, backed away a little. "How many times do I have to tell you I don't want the hospital? Hiro all I want to do is race."

"Yeah, and we both know what Haruka wants Haruka gets." Hiroshi snapped back stepping closer again to the younger Tenoh. "Just like you got to go to whatever school you wanted, and Dad paid extra to get you motorcycle lessons. Just like you got to go study abroad while Grandma told Dad I should stay here in Tokyo. But no, little Haru got to travel and do whatever. Why don't they ever treat you like they treat me?"

"Hiro."

"Shut it!" Hiroshi turned away from his sibling and growled. "Perfect little Haru and your perfect little life. Just stay the hell out of mine! You wouldn't get spoiled like this if our mother were around."

"You think Mom would agree with what you've been doing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come off it Hiro, I know what the hell you're doing. I knew in high school, hell you showed me, and I know you still are."

"I'm not like that anymore!" Hiroshi got a bit too loud so he turned back toward Haruka and got into the blonde's face. His voice dropped so low that Michiru strained to hear. "One little mistake and you all throw it in my face, never let me live anything down. You're not so prefect either you know."

"I never said I was."

"Then admit to the things you've done!"

"This isn't getting anywhere, leave me alone." Haruka started past Hiroshi but the older brother grabbed Haruka's arms and glared.

"I'm still your older brother you ungrateful little liar."

"Hiroshi get your hand off me before I get pissed." Haruka's voice finally seemed to be getting beyond frustrated and for an unknown reason Hiroshi relented. He stalked off and a door was heard shutting down the hall.

Michiru shut her door as quietly as possible and breathed a sigh of relief, she was sure neither Tenoh meant for that to be over heard. With that in mind she nearly jumped out of her skin when there was a light tap on the door she'd started to lean against. The violin player felt almost like she'd walked into one of those teen horror flicks and she was about to confront the killer. With that in mind she slowly turned and edged the door open, not expecting the set of teal eyes to be as close as they were.

Haruka managed to get a hand over Michiru's lips before the scream could escape her. The blonde was a bit worried someone had heard so she backed the violin player into the guest room and kicked the door lightly shut, seeing blue eyes go even wider. Haruka had to think for a moment before she realized how bad this must look to the young woman before her.

"Oh! I'm sorry Michiru-san." Haruka released the young woman and backed away, bowing as blue eyes took in the leather biker gear she wore. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright, how did you even know I was awake?" Michiru asked, doing her best to play innocent as the blonde eyed her.

"Hiroshi didn't see you but I spotted the little slip of light from your door." Haruka blushed very lightly as she realized that Michiru wasn't wearing anything but a robe. "I only wanted to apologize for what you saw; we don't normally treat our guests to family disputes."

"And that couldn't wait until morning when I was dressed?" Michiru teased playfully, not totally sure why she seemed to like the blonde's company. Something about Haruka seemed to amuse her, maybe the fact that he blonde had her parents completely fooled. Michiru wasn't sure why, but no one else seemed to notice the blonde was female, so for now she was playing along.

"Well, I didn't realize, I mean." Haruka stumbled over her words for the first time since the two met that morning. She felt a bit flustered by the woman before her and she wasn't sure if she should take the comment as a rebuke, flirting or a joke. She opted for the last and forced a smirk. "Not that I don't enjoy the view Michiru-san, but I didn't plan on walking in on you after a shower. Gomen."

"Apology accepted Haruka-san, but why are you still up?"

"Just going out for a late night ride." Haruka sighed. "I have a bit of trouble sleeping around here sometimes."

"Well be careful." Michiru said, verbally dismissing the blonde even as Haruka started to turn away. The blonde paused and couldn't fight her habit of flirting, before she opened the door she looked back to the blue eyed woman.

"If you'd ever like to join me for a ride, just let me know." With that the blonde disappeared back into the hall and shut the door. Michiru smiled and went back to getting ready for bed. Maybe, if Haruka was as nice as she seemed, the blonde could help her find a way out of this mess.


	3. Morning People

**Author's Note: **I noticed that for some reason my spelling of "Tenoh" was bothering me. Turns out I have previously always used "Ten'ou" so the sudden change was making me pause. All the same I decided to leave it since I've already posted two chapters with the spelling like that.

**Chapter 3: Morning People**

Haruka quietly opened and closed the door, doing her best to be silent in the dim earlier morning light. The blonde's brightly colored leather jacket was unzipped now, blue black and white leather restricting her movements a little as she breathed a sigh of relief, teal eyes still on the now locked kitchen door.

"I suppose it's too much to expect the two of you to behave for such a short time." Maiko's voice broke the silence in a stern and very irate tone. Haruka, her grandmother swore, jumped nearly two feet as she spun to face the elder Tenoh.

"Good morning Grandma." Haruka smiled uneasily and bowed, lamented that her stealth was hurting from living alone.

"Good night Haruka." Maiko's gray eyes glared pointedly at her granddaughter and the blonde sighed in defeat.

"Good night." Haruka turned from the storm waiting in her grandmother's eyes to face the door leading to the hall. She paused when her grandmother called her name lightly and looked back. The older woman shook her head, clearly at a loss for what to do about her grandchildren.

"What is it about night time that attracts you two so much?" Maiko waved away whatever response Haruka had been about to speak and turned back to her bowl of cereal. "Never mind, I have a doctor's appointment this morning and I don't need you raising my blood pressure. Bed, now young lady."

Haruka stepped into the hall and nearly walked right into Michiru, catching the violin player as she started to fall backward. Haruka felt herself pause, years of hiding her gender left it as a natural act but now she felt ice settle in her veins for a split second.

"I'm sorry Michiru-san. Are you okay?" Haruka steadied the shorter woman and sighed as she was met with a bright smile. The blonde forgot the ice in her veins and looked off toward the nearby staircase. "Why are you down here so early?"

"I heard voices and was wondering who was awake." Michiru shrugged at the odd look this earned her and waved a hand toward a nearby portrait of the Tenoh family just after Haruka's birth. "I woke early so I came down to look at some of the paintings."

"Well, trust me when I say Miss Kaioh that you do not want to disturb my Grandmother before breakfast." Haruka had dropped her voice to a whisper, guiding Michiru back toward the staircase and throwing her a conspiratorial smirk. "We Tenohs are nearly famous for our lack of being morning people, though Grandma tries to deny it."

"You seem to be in a good mood Haruka-san." Michiru comment to the blonde as Haruka led her back to her room. She didn't realize the blonde had been gently holding her arm until Haruka let her hand fall away. The violin player turned and fully faced the blonde, blue eyes sliding up and down the racer once before she smiled and shook her head at the blonde. "You haven't slept yet have you?"

"I am a creature of the night, you'd better be careful around me Michiru-san." Haruka smirked and turned away, walking off toward a seeming dead end in the hallway.

"I think we may have a few things in common." Michiru said lightly, turning toward her own door and opening it. She walked in and had just shut the door, wondering mildly where Haruka had been walking, when she heard a soft thud sound followed by a creak and a second thud. Michiru swung her room's door open again but found that the tall blonde had disappeared completely.

Hiroshi Tenoh yawned as he trudged down to breakfast some two hours later. The dark haired young man would much rather still be in bed had Ichiro not come in and threatened to dump in entire bucket of cold water over his head. Hiroshi cursed the man mentally, tugging at the fresh though slightly wrinkled shirt he wore. Normally he didn't change just for breakfast, but he had to win over the Kaioh family somehow. With a sigh he entered the dining room and plopped down in the first chair he found.

"Forgot to shave?" Suguru commented, his smile suggesting it was a good natured tease toward the younger man. Hiroshi winced and rubbed his jaw with another mental curse. Suguru took a sip of his coffee as a maid set a plate and cup down in front of Hiroshi. "I guess the number of night shifts you've been working is taking its toll."

"I can't remember having breakfast before noon much these last few months." Hiroshi agreed, seeing a way out of the simple mistake. Before he could get his sleep addled brain to supply anything resembling conversation Haruka all but jogged into the dining room. The blonde bowed and apologized as she took a seat next to a somewhat sleepy looking Michiru.

"I see at least one of you is used to shaving in the morning." Suguru commented he was confused when Haruka choked on some water she'd been drinking. Hiroshi rolled his eyes and grimaced for what felt like the millionth time this morning.

'Not like she needs to shave.' The young doctor thought this sourly as Haruka seemed to catch up to things.

"I'm getting used to early meetings with sponsors sir." Haruka responded, nodding her thanks to the maid who set a plate before her. It happened that Haruka's chair, next to Michiru, was next to Hiroshi on the other side. Hiroshi took a few bites of his scrambled eggs and thought to himself how much of yin and yang they'd become. Haruka, so much lighter in appearance, seemed to embrace all the careers he'd never have been able to pursuit. Her favorite things seemed to involve a good deal of risk to life and limb, yet the dear golden boy Tenoh was patted on the back for it.

"I was thinking, I have to go in for a swing shift today and I was wondering if you'd like a tour of the hospital." Hiroshi addressed the older two Kaiohs as he began to remember why he was awake so early today. "I don't think the board gets to walk the halls very much, it'd be a chance to see where all the money really goes."

"That sounds very interesting." Saki spoke up, Michiru suppressed a laugh as her father didn't look as egger as her mother. For Saki this was a chance to check up on her investments, but for Suguru who worked with medical supplies it would likely be just a reminder of the work he was taking time off from.

"It sounds like we may have a family field trip on our hands." Suguru commented, forcing enthusiasm into his voice. Michiru smiled, knowing only she and her mother had caught how unexcited her father was with the idea.

"Actually I have to meet with my agent today." Michiru caught a look in her father's eye that was a mix of traitor and take me with you. Saki looked toward her daughter and raised an eyebrow.

"I thought we'd agreed no work during your visit?" Saki reminded her daughter in a tone showing that this was a dangerous topic right now.

"We did mother, but I need to sign a few apology letters for concerts I canceled to come home and a contract for the release of the last concert's CD." Michiru gave an innocent look and turned to look toward Hiroshi. "Maybe I can join you another time Hiroshi-san."

"Right." Hiroshi stood, his plate empty and nodded toward those around the table and smiled politely toward Michiru's parents. "Well I should go shave. If you'd still like to come we'll need to leave around 11 am."

Haruka was halfway up the stairs when she heard a light voice call her name. The sleepy blonde turned and waited as Michiru caught up to her. The other young woman smiled and took the blonde's arm, this time guiding the sleepy young racer on her way up. Teal eyes, which had bluffed well after a quick shower, now wished to get another few hours of rest.

"I was wondering if you have any plans this afternoon Haruka-san." Michiru began as they reached the hall and started down it. Haruka paused and looked into blue eyes that were much clearer than her own teal at the moment. Michiru could now see the truth in Haruka's previous statement about not being a morning person. The blonde just shook her head a little in answer. "I wanted you to come with me to see my agent."

"Sure." Haruka yawned widely as Michiru giggled at her. The violin player decided the young racer was cute this way, but the moment was completely broken as Michiru's mother called to her from somewhere down the staircase.

"Thank you Haruka-san, we should leave around three." Michiru, with out thinking, kissed the blonde's cheek and jogged back the way they'd come. Haruka, for her part, blinked for a moment before a smirk lit her face. The blonde decided that getting a kiss on the cheek from her rather cute future in-law wasn't bad. In fact, she felt guilty that her Grandmother was hoping to pawn Hiroshi off on the Kaioh family.

It was two thirty when a freshly showered and rested Haruka knocked on the door to Michiru's guest room. The blonde blinked when for the second time in two days the violin player answered it in nothing but a bathrobe. She blinked again then said she'd wait in the car, and so there she sat in a golden convertible waiting in the afternoon sun. A pair of sunglasses protected her teal eyes as she debated a nap. Haruka, though she was female, never understood what took women so long to dress. The blonde smirked though, seeing Michiru emerge from the mansion just past three and noting she was at least faster than Hiroshi had ever been.

In a few minutes time they were out on the streets cruising toward Tokyo and making decent time. Michiru brushed some hair from her face and noticed that her blonde companion seemed to be at home behind the wheel, resting one hand lightly on the stick shift as the other confidently controlled the car. Teal eyes were hidden behind a pair of reflective lens and the blonde wore another suit. This one looked to be a sort of brown or tan color, her inner shirt was a black button down and the blonde had skipped wearing a tie. On her wrist the gold Rolex had been replaced by a nice watch that looked like it and its band were made of steel.

"Haruka-san, I was wondering, how much do you know about why my parents and I have come to visit?" Michiru saw what she thought may have been a small wince crossing the blonde's face, but it was gone too fast to tell.

"Our parents arranged a marriage before we were born, when Hiroshi was very young." Haruka expertly made a left turn before continuing. "Now with the time that they agreed to getting this close, our families decided it'd be a good time to finally tell all of us so everyone can get to know each other. After all, if they want you to marry Hiroshi. . ."

"You assume my parents will choose Hiroshi." Michiru couldn't help the playful tone. Something about the cross dressing blonde made her feel more relaxed about the situation.

"I'm not an option; I'm just here for show." Haruka said this, than the blonde seemed to rethink her own statement as they pulled into the parking structure of an expensive building. "Hiroshi is the one this deal was really made for."

"I hope I'm not wrong to say this, but you don't sound very excited about the prospect." Michiru watched as Haruka neither confirmed nor denied the statement. The violin player knew there were things about the Tenoh family, just from Haruka's reluctance to speak, that her parents didn't know. "I didn't agree to this, it's all too old fashioned. I don't intend to marry your brother, I don't even know him."

"So if you don't intend to go through with this, not that I can blame you, why did you come with your parents?" Haruka had just shut off the car, turning a bit in her seat to regard her passenger.

"Why did you come to the mansion just to be the equivalent of a human decoration?" Michiru countered the blonde with her own question. A moment of silence followed before the two seemed to smile almost in unison and the violin player spoke what they were both thinking. "To keep peace with the people who raised us, no matter how wrong we feel they may be."

"Which just leaves the question of why you're telling me any of this?" Haruka pointed out, tapping the younger woman's nose lightly with her finger.

"I was hoping to sway you into helping me find a way out of this mess." Michiru saw the blonde turn away, thinking at first she'd somehow upset the blonde. The young racer, however, just got out of her seat and strode around the car to open Michiru's door for her. She bowed in a comical way and Michiru giggled as she stood.

"Miss Kaioh, you would ask me to plot to foil the plans of my family? Ask me to go against the wishes of my dear departed parents?" Haruka spoke over dramatically as she shut the door behind the other young woman. The blonde decided she liked hearing Michiru giggle; it was almost an addictive sound.

"Do you agree with this?" Michiru asked as she began to sober a bit and looked at teal eyes being revealed as Haruka's glasses slid down her nose a bit.

"I shouldn't be saying this, but no I don't agree with what they are trying to do." There was a pause in which Haruka pushed her glasses back up. A few seconds time wherein the blonde seemed to pull herself back from the playful person she'd just been to a more restrained form. She offered her arm to Michiru, the two starting toward an elevator and Haruka said something that caught Michiru truly unguarded. "I'd never wish Hiroshi on anyone for a lifetime."

**Review response for chapters one and two:**

**Leena9: **You're officially my first reviewer. B-) I'll do my best, thanks for the encouragement.

**Hunter007: **Thanks for the review; I hope you enjoyed this story.

**Jade-MEST: **I'll be honest; I had to ask my fiancé to translate. Thank you for the review, and I hope this chapter got up fast enough. Greetings from America! Please keep reading and reviewing.

**Urooj: **Thanks for the review, I hope you enjoyed chapter 3. B-) Haruka plus parents plus Michiru is a recipe for trouble, add one brother and a marriage agreement and you get chaos. Just kidding, I think. Keep reading and reviewing.

**Conan: **Thank you, I hope you enjoyed chapter 3 and I'll do my best.

**Petiyaka: **Why thank you. bows

**LitaDelacour AKA Amara: **Michiru actually already knows Haruka is female, but she is uncertain as to why everyone else seems to be fooled. B-) Keep reading, it's tip of the ice berg with the two Tenoh "boys".

**Tonker: **And I'm glad to be back, I really love to write. I hope this chapter shed a little light on why Michiru is going along with her parents. Thanks again Tonker, it's really great to see reviewers who've read and enjoyed my other stories.

**Neptune's Mask: **You'd be more than welcome on a midnight right love. B-) I trust you'll get DLS 2 done sooner or later, and I'd lend you Haru-chan if it'd do any good. We come up with a lot of good ideas talking at night. Love you too.

**Riva van Dyk: **Hey welcome back! I was kind of wondering if you came on fan fiction anymore. The sibling rivalry is going to get worse, as I have so much experience with my own brother to draw from. I actually wrote "prefect" instead of "perfect", I was straying into Harry Potter it seems. I've been working on my writing, trying to build enough skill to write a real novel someday. Well, thank you again for the review.

**That's it for this chapter. I am hoping to start increasing the length of these soon, but as it is this story took something like half a year to make it to being posted. Also my myspace layout has been redesigned by a good friend, so please feel free to check it out and leave comments for her.**

**Until next time, take care.**

**H.K.**


	4. Past

**Author's Note: **This isn't what I originally had planned for chapter four, but this is what came out and it explains some background a bit. Sorry this took so long to get up; I've been having some personal issues recently. Hope you enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think.

**Chapter 4: Past**

Haruka left Michiru to her meeting, giving the young woman her cell phone number and excusing herself. She would have sworn she saw a hint of regret in those blue eyes, but right now the blonde needed to clear some thoughts while she had a chance. This brought her, twenty minutes later, to her apartment. She slid her key into the lock, realizing that aside from a few hours she'd actually not entered the place in months.

"Hi Dad." Haruka spoke quietly to the brass urn which sat on a large book shelf loaded with dusty volumes. To anyone else it may have seemed a strange spot for her father's remains, but considering the books were all that her family had allowed her to keep of her father's personal book collection Haruka thought it appropriate. After all, Yoshi Tenoh had spent his life reading and collecting beaten science fiction or mystery volumes. He also seemed to have a strange obsession with US history.

The blonde shook away the thoughts as she took a moment to clear any dust from the urn itself. She missed her father, but thinking about that right now wouldn't help. If he were here it was very likely he'd be trying to discourage the Kaiohs from pairing Michiru with Hiroshi. After all, no matter what Hiro thought, their father had been well aware of the young man's habits. Haruka almost regretted her decision to move out, but honestly she felt she'd had no real choice in the matter.

The blonde hated thinking back on that night, the night that had finalized her decision.

_Haruka Tenoh was eighteen years old, and like most had her rebellious side. Most of the time when things felt too stressful the young blonde just took to the road or the track, speed always serving as her release. Most nights, things went almost along a script for the blonde racer. She'd leave school, waste time around her friends wherever she could, reluctantly she'd get on her motorcycle and make her way home._

_When she arrived, after taking the long way home, she'd find her grandmother complaining about her brother or how Haruka hadn't cleaned her room the right way. Sometimes she'd find the med student and her grandmother screaming at each other, yelling at the top of their lungs. Haruka was familiar with it and that was why the blonde routinely blew off her classmates' assumptions that money fixes everything._

_At eighteen she'd been given a large trust fund to add to money she'd already won in junior racing. She'd spoken to her father and come to a decision she wasn't sure the other Tenohs would be happy with. In fact that was why, months after turning eighteen, she had yet to tell them what she'd chosen to do._

"_You seem lost Haruka." The soft voice behind her seemed to surprise the blonde, bringing her back from her thoughts._

"_What makes you say that Sakura?" Haruka felt two arms squeeze her lightly before her friend climbed off the back of her motorcycle._

"_We've been sitting outside my house for so long that my father is pretending not to watch us." Sakura smiled at the surprised look Haruka gave her, poking the tall blonde once. "Hey, you know I assured my mother that you were a safe person to ride with but you didn't even know you parked."_

"_Sorry, its second nature to me I guess."_

"_Can I give the most untouchable guy in school some advice?" Sakura waited until Haruka nodded and accepted her helmet back. The slightly younger woman leaned forward and kissed the senior on the cheek before whispering to her. "Just tell them that you're moving out, it'll take a load off your mind."_

"_You think so?"_

"_Well, that and I think you should go get a girl friend." Sakura held her hands up to ward off the glare that was thrown her way. "Alright mister I'm never going to date, I just think you should take a chance to notice all those girls that trip over each other to get your attention."_

_Haruka watched her friend walk into the house, than nodded toward a set of eyes watching her from a kitchen window. She secured her helmet with practiced ease and was off. She sped through the streets as the sun was setting, taking the corners far faster than she should have but she was still a bit stressed. She blew past a cop who ignored her; probably the same one who'd chased her a few times and never caught the teen._

_It wasn't until she reached her home; the Tenoh mansion that she actually thought maybe tonight would be quiet. Maybe for once things would work out like the quiet life people claimed to have so often. She shut off her bike, hung her helmet from the handle bars, and walked up the steps. The door swung open and Hiroshi was waiting._

"_Where the hell were you?" He growled toward his sister as she walked past him. Haruka unbuttoned her red school jacket and shrugged out of it. She took her time to toss it across a living room chair before answering._

"_I was out with Sakura." Teal eyes scanned the older Tenoh, taking note that his face was wet but the rest of him seemed as if he hadn't showered in a day or two. His clothes were rumbled and dark and he was pale. Hiroshi in fact didn't even seem able to stay still, he was pacing back and fourth across the living room as he mumbled to himself._

"_Why the hell do you spend so much time with her?" Hiroshi growled out again, glaring straight at his sister as he came to a stop. "It doesn't look good; people are going to assume things. People are going to say things."_

"_Why should I care what people think? I know the truth." Haruka shrugged off the comment and started to turn away when Hiroshi grabbed her arm to stop her._

"_So you don't care what I think?" Hiroshi was getting angrier and Haruka was more than a little frustrated already._

"_Hiro, you're my brother I'd think you'd at least trust me." Haruka paused and shook her head. "What the hell do you think I've been doing?"_

"_I don't know, maybe you're sleeping with that damn girl or something." Hiroshi let go of her arm but Haruka paused and seemed to freeze. It wasn't that he was right, he wasn't. Instead it was the fact that he had just accused her of that. Hiroshi spoke again, not taking any warning from Haruka's silence. "Hell, you have a lot of male friends too. How the hell do we know that you haven't been doing something with them when you say you're with Sakura after school? In fact I've heard people moving around in your room at night."_

"_First all my male friends think I'm male, and second I can't believe you'd say that crap to me!" Haruka turned and glared right at her brother. She had no idea where anyone else was, but right now it didn't matter. She was too angry to wonder about who else was or wasn't present. "As for movement in my room, you know I'm an insomniac. I walk around, I watch movies, I listen to music and I type."_

"_That doesn't prove anything!" Hiroshi bellowed. "Damn I can't stand the way you act! Why should I believe you wouldn't be just as quick to fall all over a guy as any other teenage girl?"_

"_Because I don't like guys!" Haruka yelled this with out thinking than paused. She saw a look cross his face that she wasn't expecting, total and complete shock. Once this man had been her best friend, the person she'd trusted most in the world, but things had changed. The blonde turned on her heel and strode back toward the door._

"_Where the hell are you going?" Hiroshi yelled as he jogged after her, grabbing her arm as she neared the door._

"_Anywhere but here." Haruka shot back and pulled her arm back out of his grasp._

"_Damn it, do you think you're a damn guy? I'm still your older brother and you'll do what I say!" Hiroshi grabbed Haruka's arm again. "Are you trying to ruin the family name? Why couldn't just put on a damn dress and act normal?"_

"_Get out of my face!" Haruka glared at him as his next words left his mouth._

"_Why so you can go back to pretending to be a guy? Damn dyke!"_

"_I guess a drug dealing Speed addict is so much better." Haruka shot back. Hiroshi turned red and the next thing she knew a fist connected with her jaw. The blonde paused for a moment where her head had snapped to the side, she swallowed a small amount of blood rather than give Hiroshi the satisfaction of seeing her spit it onto the hard wood floor, and then her teal eyes met his brown eyes again. "Get away from me now."_

"_Haru, I'm just trying to save you from all the shit people are going to say and do." Hiroshi tried suddenly to reason it out with her. Haruka glared and turned toward the door again. Her brother growled and cursed as he punched a wall next to him. "If you walk out don't come back!"_

"_This isn't your house Hiroshi." Haruka slammed the door behind her and spat blood onto the lawn. She didn't know where exactly to go, but she wasn't going to stay here tonight. With out looking back toward the mansion the blonde climbed onto her motorcycle and sped off into the darken night. She never noticed Ichiro watching her from a first floor window._

Haruka came back to the present as her cell phone played a little alert tune, it sounded happier than the blonde currently felt. She looked at the screen, it was a short text message letting her know that Michiru was done with her meeting and ready to go. Teal eyes looked back to the brass urn and she respectfully bowed.

"Please let me know somehow if you have any ideas Dad." Haruka said this, not expecting any sort of reply from the ashes inside their urn. She was out the door again not long after.

**Review responses:**

**RachelAe: I just seem to like building up a bit to the best parts. I usually try to think wither or not I'd want to read it, and if not than I tend to edit it before it hit's the net. Always good to leave a reason to keep reading.**

**LitaDelacour (Amara): Hiroshi is loosely based off someone that seems to never be happy if things are calm. He always ends up the middle of arguments yet always sees himself as nothing but a victim. I am still thinking on what Michiru's exact escape plan will be.**

**Urooj: Here the latest chapter, keep your eyes open. Michiru and Haruka are yet to really show what either of them is truly thinking right now. Both are a little too preoccupied with not letting Michi get married off to Hiroshi.**

**Neptune's Mask: Thank you love, you're always reviewing my stuff. I feel bad, wither I let on that I do or not, because I haven't been reviewing much of anyone lately. I tried going on today to do so and I plan to keep plugging later… I owe a lot of reviews including reviews to my dear fiancé. I love you by the way.**

**Petiyaka: Impish Michiru's are the funest to work with.**

**Tonker: Glad I could clear it up. I didn't want her to seem like she was just giving in to her parents every whim. Ah well, hope you liked this chapter as I just tried to give some back log on Haruka.**

**Wicked Desire: Thank you for the vote of confidence. I have a brother to fight with, during the good times it's nice to have him around… But there are things that are so bad that though you can never say you wish you were an only child you know that in some ways you'd be better off with out their influence in someway. Thankfully I also have a sister who I don't think I'd ever be better off with out.**

**Riva van Dyk: Thank you, I'm glad to know my writing is improving. I only realized the prefect part because when I read the first Harry Potter I looked past that word and wondered why they had "Perfects". I think I was halfway through the book before I realized it was "prefect". I still need to go back and edit that. Thank you again for pointing it out by the way.**

**Shalimar23: Here's the next chapter, I'll try not to make the wait so long this time.**

That's it for tonight. I hope you all enjoyed it and please review. Okay, I should go hunt down my fiancé's story now so I can review. (Neptune's Mask) Take care everyone.


	5. Good Night

****

Chapter 5: Good night

As Haruka slowly brought the convertible up the drive the sun was just starting to sink over the horizon. Teal eyes glanced toward the passenger seat, not truly feeling like returning so early. Michiru seemed to be trying to cover a feeling of dread at the thought of returning to the mansion, if her dazed eyes and lack of attention was any indication. She wasn't paying attention to anything around her, lost in her own thoughts until the car came to a full halt.

"Haruka, we're only halfway up the drive?" Michiru looked to the blonde in confusion until Haruka smirked back at her. "What are you thinking?"

"Hiroshi is on swing shift, he won't be back until somewhere around midnight." Haruka leaned a bit toward Michiru and waved a hand toward the house. The blonde Tenoh heir could almost hear her father's voice laughing like it once had when Haruka came up with a last minute idea. "I could drop you off, leave you to get to know my grandmother and maybe play your violin."

"Or?" Michiru was starting to feel intrigued by whatever it was the blonde was slowly proposing.

"Or you could do me the honor of accompanying me to a business party tonight. Nothing fancy, just one of my fellow racers and a lot of sponsors at a large house." Haruka sat back again and gave a look as if it didn't affect her either way. "I don't think anyone inside can see us yet, and if they can then it's still your choice. So, how would you like to spend your evening miss Kaioh?"

Michiru was just finishing a voicemail message to her parents when Haruka pulled up in front of another mansion. From the outside it looked like an expensive block party complete with what sounded like a live rock band in the back yard. The violin player started to rethink her decision until she noticed Haruka again holding the door open for her.

Haruka smiled as Michiru took her arm and the blonde noticed the valet was nearly drooling. She tossed him her keys with a warning glare and led Michiru inside. The inside of the mansion was well lit, and though some people were drinking the party in here seemed much calmer than Michiru had imagined.

"Tenoh!" An American man with dark hair and brown eyes ran over, pausing and grinning in a knowing way as he saw Michiru. "Oh, so this is why you had to return to Japan so badly. Is this your fiancé Tenoh? If not, I may just try to steal her away if she speaks English."

"Er, no this is Michiru Kaioh." Haruka seemed to be lost for how to explain her guest until Michiru nudged her. The blonde looked down into deep blue eyes and almost forgot the man standing before them.

"I speak English quite well, thank you." Michiru held to Haruka's arm a bit tighter and smiled politely to the man before her. "I'm a friend and Haruka decided to take me out tonight."

"Oh, well my name is Walter Green." He grinned toward the blonde again before speaking to Michiru. "Haruka and I race for the same team. I was starting to wonder if our star racer was a gay man, seeing as I never saw him bring a date to anything."

"Haruka's just very private about his relationships, it's actually normal for Japan." Michiru looked toward the blonde and threw a playful wink. "After all, our parents often feel they know what is best for both us and the family."

"Guess I can understand that." Walter gave a conspiratorial look and waggled his brow. "You seem to understand Tenoh pretty well; does that mean you're his girl friend?"

"We're friends Green." Haruka gave him a stern look but the man just laughed.

"I've heard that one before." Walter laughed a bit as Haruka led Michiru further into the house. The living room had been cleared and its hard wood floor was being used as a dance floor. Unlike the back yard where lights flashed and speakers banged, the music in here was much slower. All the songs being played on the expensive stereo were meant to dance slowly to. "May I have a dance?"

"I'd love to." Michiru was led onto the dance floor and Haruka placed her arms about the shorter woman's waist. Michiru lightly rested her arms on the blonde's shoulders and they swayed together with the music.

"I should have warned you, I never dance and I'm bad at it." Haruka smirked when she just got giggled at for her trouble. She eyed the woman in her arms and shook her head lightly. "Why did you help me out with Green? As far as you know I could easily be a gay man."

"Haruka, I may have only known for a few very short days but I know you aren't a gay man." Michiru giggled again even as Haruka sighed and seemed to look almost worried about the statement. The violin player rested her head on the blonde's shoulder and leaned against her a bit. For whatever reason, the blonde obviously wanted people to think she was male. "Isn't the point of tonight to have fun?"

"That's what parties are for." Haruka commented back, a bit slowly. She was surprised to have the other young woman this close but far from complaining.

"Than relax Haruka and enjoy it." The quite voice of the violin player made the blonde's heart skip for just a second and Haruka smirked. One night, that was all, the blonde promised to herself. Just One night to relax and just enjoy being out, one night to get to know the young woman currently dancing with her. If that was the only time she was allowed to relax, then Michiru was right the blonde should take the chance to enjoy it.

Ichiro had tea and coffee waiting when Hiroshi and the Kaiohs returned. Hiroshi took a sip of his coffee, looking very tired, and off handedly asked where Haruka was. Ichiro responded with an apology, not sure where the other young master had gone after Michiru's appointment. That was when the real show seemed to start. Hiroshi paused in mid drink and stared blankly at the man for a time. Than slowly he seemed to start thinking and moving again.

"Haruka went with Kaioh-san to her appointment?" Hiroshi asked, trying not to curse at the mention of Haruka.

"Master Haruka drove Kaioh-san to the appointment." Ichiro informed as he refilled Suguru's coffee cup.

"Where is Michiru?" Saki asked the question with a note of caution in her voice. Hiroshi glanced toward the woman and wasn't able to tell her opinion of any of it, even as Ichiro spoke again.

"Kaioh-san hasn't returned either." Ichiro informed them, being careful to hide his inner smile. He'd seen the golden convertible come halfway up the drive, then reverses down the drive and depart again.

"Hold on, let me check my voicemail." Suguru showed his wife his phone before hitting a few keys. He placed it on speaker, seeming to not take notice that Hiroshi was still in the room.

"You have one new message." The prerecorded voice spoke and than there was a pause. "New message received at six thirty pm today."

"Ohayo Dad." The voice which replaced the recorded one was Michiru's. If you listened carefully you could hear a car radio and wind in the background. "I didn't want either of you to worry. I'm going to a business party with Haruka-san and we'll be back late. I have my cell phone with me incase you need to call me."

"Nothing to worry about, she's with Haruka-kun." Suguru seemed content with the message as he closed his phone and put it back in his pocket. Saki still looked like she was thinking things over though, unsure if she approved of her daughter's actions or not.

"I should be getting to bed, it's late." Hiroshi stood up; setting down his half empty cup before he bowed. "Sorry."

"That sounds like a good idea." Suguru commented after the younger man had left the room. He stood and held out a hand to help his wife when they heard the door open. Michiru could be heard laughing as two people approached the living room in which the Kaioh's sat.

"Michiru." Saki called and they heard the foot steps pause. Then a moment later Michiru entered with the taller blonde not far behind her.

"Kaioh-san, Kaioh-sama." Haruka bowed out of respect to the two elder people as they both eyed her. Suguru sat back down and sighed, he was afraid this might not be the best discussion.

"Haruka-kun." Saki smiled at the youngest Tenoh and stood. She approached the two and eyed them both. "Did you both have fun tonight?"

"Yes ma'am." Haruka's face showed a serious expression as she spoke to the woman before her. "Your daughter impressed a number of the sponsors tonight. I think some of them may never have heard of music that didn't involve a lot of bass or a commercial jingle. She may have brought some culture to a few people in the racing world."

"Is that so?" Saki looked toward her daughter and Michiru smiled.

"They aren't as bad as Haruka-san is making them sound. Actually one of the sponsors minored in music when he was studying business. He played the cello so we talked about different string quartet pieces."

"I'm sure Michiru can fill us in about this all tomorrow morning." Suguru stood again and waved a hand dismissively toward the two younger occupants of the room. Saki started to say something but her husband beat her to it. "It's late and I'm sure we're all tired. Tomorrow we can talk after breakfast."

Michiru took this as her queue to leave, knowing her father was trying to save them all an hours' long discussion. She took a hold of Haruka's elbow and tugged lightly so the blonde would follow her. Michiru could feel her mother's eyes watch them for a moment longer, until they reached the stairs.

"So." Haruka waited to speak until they again stood before Michiru's door. The blonde shoved her hands in her pockets and looked at the wooden door just above Michiru's head. "I guess I'd better say good night and get off to bed too."

"Thank you for taking me to the party Haruka, it was fun." Michiru didn't notice she'd forgotten the honorific for a moment but once she did she saw Haruka smile.

"You know, to anyone else it'd sound like we'd just been on a date." The blonde smirked and met Michiru's eyes with her own teal eyes.

"It almost feels like one." Michiru agreed. Neither noticed that they were leaning toward each other a bit.

"So, does that mean I'm supposed to get a good night kiss?" Haruka commented. At this point Michiru didn't know what to say. She just paused, and then she gave in and tugged the blonde forward by her collar. Michiru's lips lightly touched Haruka's cheek and she smiled toward the young race car driver. The blonde pulled back and scratched the back of her head.

"Good night Haruka." Michiru said cheerfully even as Haruka seemed stuck halfway between a frown and a grin. The blonde's expression caused Michiru to giggle and Haruka tossed her a playful glare. Michiru just turned and started into her room for the night.

"Good night, Michiru." Haruka spoke with amused resignation as she turned and walked off into the shadows. Michiru waited for just a bit, even as she heard the curious thump that always seemed to signal Haruka's departure. By the time she turned her eyes back toward the hall the blonde was gone so, with a sigh, she entered her own room for the night.

Author's Note: This chapter was actually written before chapter four, but I didn't feel like it fit right. The ending was different before, but I changed for reasons known only to myself. Okay, I'll get on to the responses now.

****

Review Responses:

First off, thank you for reviewing it is vastly encouraging. In fact, reviewers are a big part of why, after moving boxes, heaters, small appliances, tubs of chemicals and wooden pallets for eight hours I am still sitting here with my laptop. Again, sorry for the long wait.

Hpsailorstarluver: Thank you for all three of your reviews, and with in such a short period of time too. B-) The two brothers' fighting can be pretty entertaining in a fictional perspective, though it was mostly meant to keep the atmosphere realistic. Trust me, they get worse from there.

Haruka's brother is, well if I say what I think of him as a person I'd have to raise the story rating. He's based off someone I know and he's worse in real life. As for the relationship between Haruka and Michiru, you'll have to wait and see. I often have an outcome I intend when I start to write a story but I am sometimes surprised by how they evolve and change course in my head. So, honestly, I won't even know until I get to that part. At least I won't know for certain.

****

Riva-van-Dyk: I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you for reviewing again. Sorry that this took so long to update. To be honest, I thought I posted chapter five a month or two ago. Life has been dragging me along since I couldn't keep up for a while I think. On the upside, that means chapter six is nearly ready to be posted.

****

Shalimar23: There you go, five days after you asked me to "update soon" it's up. Sadly it doesn't include her parents' decision yet but I'll try to get the chapters up faster now. Thank you for the review, it helped give me the "kick in the pants" I needed to get this posted up. I've been a little busy lately.

****

Lita Delacour: Thank you for reviewing again. I'm glad you like the flash back. B-) Sorry I made you wait so long for an update.

****

Petiyaka: I think you meant "I agree with Riva." but hey I understood it. Actually I get a huge kick out of how Minako tends to reinvent phrases accidentally. I'm trying to get better at all of this, but I am still an amateur at best. Thank you for reviewing and sorry it took so long to update, the next one will be up faster I promise.

****

Okay folks, sorry again for the wait. I hope you're still reading out there and please leave me a review if you have the time. Thank you for reading.


	6. Round Two

****

Author's Note: Okay, well I meant for it to only be a few days between chapters this time but that didn't work out. I actually got a little too busy this week for my taste. Actually, as I type this I am sick and just taking advantage of the rest. Okay, enough babble. Enjoy.

Chapter 6: Round Two

Morning found the whole house awoken by the sound of loud yelling. It wasn't clear to any of them what was going on as the Kaioh's emerged and found Hiroshi, still in his clothes from the previous day, yelling at the ceiling as if it were a person. He was standing some feet past Michiru's guest room and his complexion was red from anger.

"Come out you little coward!" Hiroshi yelled toward the ceiling and at this point Michiru's father looked uneasily after the young man. "You can face down my friends but not me? Is that it?"

"Tenoh-san?" Michiru's father began to interrupt when they all paused. The ceiling had emitted an odd sort of creak and now a portion of it was swinging downward in front of the outraged young man. Michiru suddenly realized where Haruka always disappeared to as a folding staircase attached to the trapdoor unfolded fully. A yawning and bored looking blonde came to sit on the top steps as Hiroshi raged on.

"Where do you come off sending my friend's away? You don't even live here anymore!" Hiroshi snapped, glaring at Haruka in a murderous way.

"Grandma made it clear she didn't want any other guests until the Kaioh's visit was over." Haruka responded and still seemed board as Hiroshi took another step toward the stairs, seemingly intent on climbing them. Teal eyes locked with his and Haruka's voice went entirely dry of emotion. "Don't even think about coming up here right now. Why don't we discuss why your friend had a key to the front door? Or why they seemed to think it okay to drop by at three in the morning? Better yet, we can discuss why they threatened me before they had any idea who exactly stopped them from entering."

"When my friends want to see me is my business." Hiroshi barked and this time he did take one step onto the stairs. He took another two as Haruka stood, hopping off the side of the stairs and falling lightly from ceiling height to avoid the older Tenoh. Hiroshi growled as Haruka crouched at Michiru's feet and slowly rose back to full height.

"Good Morning Michiru-san." Haruka said calmly with a small bow toward the violin player. Both, unlike Hiroshi, were still in their respective sleep clothes. Michiru bowed back but held her robe to ensure it still covered her pajamas while taking in the blonde's rumbled and wrinkled pajamas.

"Hey! My friends are none of your business; get that through your head!" Hiroshi growled once he'd caught up with Haruka, grabbing the blonde's elbow and attempting to yank the racer to face him. Everyone seemed a little surprised when the younger Tenoh moved faster than any of them were able to keep up with. Haruka had Hiroshi pinned to the ground and was kneeling next to him to keep him restrained.

"I told you not to touch me." Haruka commented just before a new voice interrupted them from the other side of the hall.

"Haruka Tenoh! Get off your brother right now!" Maiko Tenoh looked appalled at how her two grandchildren were behaving in front of their guests. Haruka stood, backing away from Hiroshi as he growled and lurched to his feet. He looked ready to launch himself at the blonde when Maiko snapped again. "Hiroshi! You have work, go get dressed!"

Hiroshi paused for a moment, than gave of a frustrated sound halfway between a scream and a growl. Soon he'd stocked back into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Maiko sighed as she heard the young man continue to rage inside his bedroom and a few muffled thumps.

"What were you two thinking?" Maiko stated, looking squarely at Haruka. The blonde hung her head a bit as she bowed toward the elder Tenoh.

"I'm sorry Grandma." Was all Haruka said as Maiko shook her head.

"Well, as everyone seems to be awake now I'll have breakfast prepared." Maiko turned and slowly walked off. Haruka could see her nerves had been rattled as their long time butler kept a steadying hand hovering near the woman's elbow and she leaned a bit much on her old cane.

"Haruka-san, what was that about?" Michiru looked over at her but the blonde just shock her head and faced the older Kaioh's.

"I'm sorry Kaioh-sama, Kaioh-san." Haruka bowed again then turned back toward the trap door staircase and disappeared back into the room above it. The blonde let out a sigh of relief as she heard the stair case click back into place. This was promising to be a long day.

"Back off I'll take you on!" Haruka jumped as the music blared from her cell phone, having forgotten her own ring tone in all the confusion. She glared at the small device and grabbed it from the night stand.

"Tenoh Haruka speaking."

Everything seemed to quiet down for a few days in the mansion. Haruka found herself thinking that maybe this was going to be one of those rare times that Hiroshi let things just blow over. In fact it was nearly a week later before anything interesting happened to the blonde.

"Are you sure you can't stay home Haruka?" Maiko asked as the blonde stepped into the living room to say good bye. She set her duffle bag down for a moment and shook her head.

"I'm lucky that my team let me out of all the practices I missed as it is Grandma." Haruka gave the eldest Tenoh a hug and bowed to the three Kaiohs before grabbing her bag again. "I can't miss these two races. I promise I'll fly back in a few days, and then I'll have another week off."

"Alright but wear your helmet." Maiko Tenoh said, the same thing she'd told the blonde when she was just a child on a bicycle.

"Yes Grandma." Haruka said with a laugh. She didn't need to tell her Grandmother that the league wouldn't let you race with out one.

So Haruka walked to the door, feeling pretty good at the moment. That was until she opened the front door to the mid morning light and saw her convertible for the first time that day. Haruka's duffle bag fell to the ground and she froze eyes wide as she stared at the scene on the driveway. All color had drained from the blonde's face in mere seconds. Footsteps and a yawn were heard behind her as Hiroshi came down stairs for work. He called a quick goodbye to the guests and stepped past Haruka.

"I think you may need to get your car looked at Haru-chan." Hiroshi smirked. He proceeded past the beaten gold convertible, got into his black Honda and drove away with out another word. Ichiro looked past the younger of his two masters and winced, knowing as well as Haruka who was responsible for this.

"Haruka-san what's wrong?" Michiru, followed by Maiko and her parents, stepped over to where Haruka now stood just outside the door. The blonde was in complete shock, she didn't even blink for the moment.

The headlights, taillights, and turn lights had been smashed in. The windshield was shattered, the black cloth of the roof shredded, the side windows smashed. Someone had taken a knife to the expensive leather interior; they'd keyed the golden paint and even spray painted kanji symbols in random spots. Dents seemed to dot the car where someone had smashed a metal bat or pipe against it and all four tires had been punctured.

"They killed my car." Haruka muttered very slowly. She didn't notice a pair of worried blue eyes watching her. The blonde's skin had gone slightly pale as her eyes surveyed the damage before her.

"You'll miss your plane if you stay too long Master Haruka." Ichiro said in a consoling tone before he held out another set of keys to her. "Your motorcycle has a full tank."

"Thank you Ichiro-san." Haruka seemed to mentally shake off the shock as she traded keys with the old butler. She offered him a weak smile and she nodded her thanks to the man. "Please arrange for the convertible to be moved into the garage, I'll take care of it as soon as I get back."

"As you wish, Master Haruka." Ichiro turned away and disappeared back into the mansion. Haruka grabbed her duffle, slipping the strap over her head and across her shoulders. This time the blonde only waved goodbye as she walked off around the side of the mansion.

A few minutes later they heard the growl of a motorcycle engine and an expensive sports bike came around the side of the house. It paused, blue paint gleaming in the sun, just long enough for Haruka to wave before pealing out of the drive. It took only moments for the sound of the engine to die into the distance.

"Shouldn't we call the police about your grandson's car, Tenoh-sama?" Suguru suggested, looking off toward the gate.

"No, Haruka will handle this when he returns." Only Michiru caught a slight pause in Maiko's comment. That was when Michiru began to wonder exactly why the older two Tenohs were pretending Haruka was male as well.

Review Response:

Mantaray: Thank you for the review. I'm sorry that chapter took so long; it actually was sitting on my hard drive because I thought I'd posted it already. This one is likely about the same length but I will try to make the next chapter longer. Thank you for the review and for reading after such long waits.

****

Riva van Dyk: lol! Thank you for saying the chapter was cute; I think a few people probably wanted to whack me for not making them out right kiss. B-) I'm amazed how much time simple trips seem to take, too much crops up. In high school I'd have been able to keep up with this site easily but now. Well, I have my job five or six nights a week, I spend a week end a month "playing soldier", my nephews are always wanting me to go with to boy scouts or martial arts classes (which now I am back in) and I have been trying to help my sister out with errands. sighs Email alerts are great things. B-)

Right now, I'm glad I still have time to write though. Soon, round about January, I will have to take another break for a month. I'll be heading up north for re-training in a new job. Ah well, maybe I'll manage to write a chapter than if they give me down time. Thank you for taking the time to review again. bows

****

Reusch: Thank you for reviewing, hope I got this chapter up fast enough.

****

Prince of the Oceans: B-) Well, if they'd kissed right then it might have been a bit fast. Then again, I am reserved so a lot of my characters probably take things a bit slower than people expect. Thank you for taking the time to read all five chapters. It's easy to over look stories on the site, especially because I'm not overly detailed in my summaries. Hope you liked this chapter; let me know what you think.

****

Tonker: Wow, thank you for the compliment of my story. I guess saying I have a life is the best way to put things; I've just been really busy. I have two nephews and somewhere along the last few years I became some sort of third parental unit with out realizing. I pay for school stuff, go to their scout meetings and even get them food. It's kind of fun, but I'm still glad that at the end of the day they have their parents and I can focus on my job and such.

I'll try to keep my update gaps to under a month when ever possible. I honestly never meant to let the story go so long; I just have had a bit of a time writing this one. Actually, for a time, I couldn't. It was heavily inspired by two people who don't have the same role in things right now and that and that made it hard. Still, I'll try to keep it up to date. Thank you for your review.

****

Lita Delacour: Thank you.

****

Ja-fall2pieces: Thank you, hope you liked this chapter.

****

Shalimar23: Wow, thank you. I'm honored that you consider this story "THE BEST!". I'll try to keep it up. B-) Thank you again for your review.

****

Petiyaka: B-) I'm glad you liked the last chapter. All of my writing tends to have a bit of melancholy to it, mainly because I feel all life has its ups and downs. I've never believed that anyone out there really has a life with absolutely no sadness or stress for their whole life time. Life's more about how you handle the things thrown your way. I'll try not to drop off the fan fiction map again if I can avoid it, I really do enjoy writing.

****

Well that does it for this round of responses. Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed, I really appreciate the support. I will try to make the next chapter longer with out giving you such a long wait. Thank you for all the patients you've shown in still reading.


	7. Taka

**This chapter is dedicated to Mantaray. I hope this one is a better length, over 4400 words and to double the last chapter. Thank you for your input.**

**Chapter 7: Taka**

Haruka sighed tiredly as she slid into her seat on the team's bus. Luckily they had chanced out and the second race was being held only a few hours drive away, but the blonde still would have rather driven alone. Unfortunately she knew it wasn't a good idea, as she hadn't slept well on the plane and hadn't had a chance to since.

"Hey! Great race Tenoh!" Green smiled widely as he dropped into the seat next to her. Haruka ignored his enthusiasm and shut her eyes. Somehow this only caused the American to become more persistent. "I didn't think you were going to make it for the charity race too. Why didn't you bring your fiancé with?"

"First, she isn't my fiancée." Haruka growled quietly. For a moment there was a paused, them Green was all pep again.

"Yeah, okay she's a friend I got it." Green spoke, not sounding truly convinced as he settled into his own seat and looked up to the overhead monitors set in the roof. He smiled as some newly released DVD started to play. Again it was quiet for a brief moment, but then the man smirked and spoke again. "So, do you miss her?"

Haruka groaned and resisted the urge to glare at the man next to her. This was going to be a long ride it seemed and it only seemed longer as Green started to hum along with the movies opening music.

Dinner seemed to pass incredibly slowly for Michiru. As slipped her cell phone carefully from a pocket with out looking down, she feigned interest in the conversation the other four were having though in all honesty she'd lost track of it long ago. The violin player was only still at the table because she'd promised her mother she would wait for everyone to finish tonight. Still, as her blue eyes glanced down to start a text message she thanked the fact she'd landed on her own side of the table.

"Tenoh." Green was shaking Haruka's shoulder and she blinked in confusion. He smirked at her and gestured toward her jacket. "Your jacket keeps vibrating."

It took a moment for her drowsy mind to put two and two together. As soon as she remembered what was in her pocket she pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open.

"What is it?" Green asked like an excited little kid, his eyes even had a little sparkle in them. "Is it a text message? Can I read it?"

"Yes it is and no you can't." Haruka responded as she turned in her seat a bit so the man could no longer see the screen over her shoulder.

"But this movie is boring." Green whined in his best imitation of a four year old.

"Deal with it." Haruka then ignored him in favor of the message on her screen.

'**Congratulations on winning the race. Where are you at the moment?'** The short message came from Michiru's cell phone.

"Hey Tenoh?"

"What Green?"

"Why are smiling suddenly?"

Michiru felt a slight buzzing in her hand and squeezed a button on the side of her phone. She waited until she was sure no one was looking than glanced down at the screen.

'**Thank you. I'm on my way to the next race by bus. Green is sitting next to me acting like an over grown kid.'** Michiru smiled and looked up at the others again. No one was paying any attention to her, all too busy with discussion over Tenchi Hospital.

"Damn." Haruka glared at the latest message and Green turned his attention toward her. He raised an eyebrow as she sighed.

"What happened?"

"Michiru asked me to say hi to you." Haruka grumbled, knowing full well what was coming next.

"I knew it, you're talking to her!" Green nearly bounced out of his seat with a huge grin on his face. "Are you two setting up your next date?"

"It isn't like that." The blonde grumbled and glared at him.

"Oh, so what is it like?" Green watched her closely and smiled a bit too much for her taste.

"She's supposed to marry my brother!" Haruka growled at him in frustration. She took a deep breath as some of the few people still awake looked there way. Thankfully Green waited until the attention was back off them to speak again.

"Wow. Tenoh I never pegged you as the type to break up a happy home." The American looked so completely scandalized that Haruka was sure he was faking it.

"It was an arranged marriage and I'm not breaking up anything." Haruka grumbled again as she typed a new message.

"Really?" Green sighed a bit and settled back into his seat, apparently calm at the moment. "That's too bad."

"Oh. Why is that?" She asked, not honestly caring much why.

"Well at the party I saw the two of you dancing." Green closed his eyes, relaxing into his seat. In the man's mind he could clearly recall the image. "You should have seen what you both looked like. You just seemed to fit together, like you were the perfect couple."

Michiru looked down to her latest text message and it took a good amount of will power not to laugh. It was short and there was no explanation for it, but she was sure whatever inspired it was comical.

'**Green is insane. I should inform the team medics so they can get him some professional help.'**

The days with her team came and went quickly, adding two wins to Haruka's standings. She'd been back in Japan for only a day when Michiru found her in the garage, or more precisely found the blonde's legs sticking out from under her currently trashed convertible. For a moment she paused in the door, listening to the sounds of tools and metal and watching as the blonde's leg seemed to twitch now and then. She was wondering if she should interrupt or not when the racer's somewhat deep voice made her jump.

"Hello Michiru-san." Haruka laughed when Michiru jumped, causing the musician to glare at her.

"What's so funny?" She asked, stepping a bit closer to the car.

"Just you jumped so high I lost sight of your feet for a moment." Haruka responded her smile audible at this point. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"What are you doing down there?" Michiru crouched near a wheel, bending a little oddly until she could see a set of teal eyes gazing back from the shadows under the car. "And how can you see anything?"

"I'm fixing some of the damage to my baby here. The people who did this decided to disconnect, break and remove a few parts while they were at it." Haruka tapped an object hooked to something next to her and spoke again. "I did have a source of light but it seems someone may have unplugged it when they entered."

Michiru looked up, deep blue eyes following a heavy orange cord from under the car up to the wall where it had clearly been plugged in before she entered. She blushed a bit as she realized she accidentally kicked that cord while looking for the blonde.

"Gomen, Haruka." She stood and walked over to the cord. She paused, about to plug it in when she heard wheels rolling across the concrete floor. As Michiru looked back over her shoulder she found the blonde sitting up on a rolling board. Haruka eased back so that she was leaning the convertible's battered bumper.

"I was thinking about taking a break." Haruka commented standing and slowly stretching. She walked over and smirked as she bowed to the woman before her. "Would you like to go with me for lunch, Michiru?"

"Where to?"

"Anywhere you want so long as we get out of the house for a while." Haruka took in the smile that appeared on Michiru's face and wondered what she'd just gotten herself into.

Hiroshi sat quietly in the den, trying his best to keep up the charming appearance around Suki and Suguru. He'd worked a morning shift and come home an hour or two after lunch to find only the two Kaioh's. For the moment, they seemed to be lost in their own conversation and the young doctor could merely sit back and close his eyes tiredly. He could feel it, his temper and stress being restrained by a thin wall of will power. He needed to do his best not to show his bad side around these guests, he needed to impress them.

Hiroshi opened his eyes as he felt his pager vibrating on his belt and surprised a growl. He fished the small device from his belt and looked at the display, now he fought a smile at the number he saw displayed. He stood and bowed apologetically toward his guests.

"I'm sorry, but it looks like I need to go back to the hospital."

"So soon?" Saki's voice held a note of worry as she watched him. "Is something wrong?"

"I won't really know until I get there, but I'm sure it's just something routine like a patient that is insisting they speak to me." Hiroshi smiled good naturedly and bowed again. It only took a moment for the young man to stride into the hall and out the door, practically jogging to his black car.

Once behind the wheel he took a moment to check his reflection in the rearview mirror and winced. He looked almost as tired as he felt. If it hadn't been for Haruka's interference he'd have already handled this, but since his dear sister had returned home he found it hard to keep up appearances with out sacrificing here and there. So, as he drove into one of the less reputable districts of Tokyo he felt a small amount of joy just knowing that no eyes were on him. No one keep tabs on where he was, who he was with or when someone wanted to speak to him. This area hadn't changed much from the first time he'd laid eyes on it.

_Fifteen year old Hiroshi Tenoh glanced over his shoulder, half expecting to find old Ichiro or their family driver chasing him. It was a useless thought, as it was doubtful any of them knew that he'd left school early. His brown eyes scanned the dirty streets, the graffiti covered walls and the random passers by in this part of Tokyo. He took an edgy glance at his own clothing, a clean and well pressed school uniform with the collar hock undone and an expensive watch on his wrist. He was almost certain he'd be mugged before he reached his destination._

_"Tenoh-san! We've got to do something about your sense of still man!" The voice sent the fifteen year old spinning to face the alley he'd just passed. A young man grinned at him. The other man had spiked black hair, brown eyes hidden behind shades, his dark pants were baggy with chains hanging from various pockets and belt loops and a leather jacket rested across his shoulders. "Well, nothing we can do about it now class president."_

_"Taka-san? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Hiroshi glared as Taka just laughed and walked over to slap him on the back._

_"You were so nervous you nearly walked past the house, I was just catching you. If you want feel free to take a walk around the block man." Taka was already guiding him toward the door of an old, very worn down house with a few broken windows and loads of graffiti. "Come on, the party is inside."_

_"In there?" Hiroshi's surprise was evident but Taka ignored it and just pulled him to the door. He gave two quick, loud knocks and it opened to blaring music from inside and a smoky atmosphere. Hiroshi could see several of there classmates, mostly the lower scoring, milling about or moving through the artificial fog. "Whose house is this?"_

_"My uncle's. Look, don't worry so much we're all here to unwind." Taka pulled him further inside and toward a couch. There was a table pulled up before the couch and a number of people sat around it on the floor or couch itself. On the table were beer cans, bottles, packets of white powder, something Hiroshi was sure wasn't tobacco, and a number of other things related to smoking. "You wanna try something?"_

_"What?" Hiroshi turned his eyes toward Taka, they were burning a little from the smoke inside. He was also starting to fill a bit more relaxed though he didn't see why._

_"You're eyeing the table like a curious kid." Taka grabbed a little pipe and a lighter and grinned even wider as he held them up. "So, what do you say rich kid?"_

_Hiroshi's mind was made up then, nothing else Taka could say could have worked so well. The teen was tired of being singled out, being treated differently from the others. He was tired of having all his choices taken away from him. Taka's party wasn't a place his family would have allowed him to go; it was somewhere his teachers wouldn't expect him to be._

"Tenoh!" Taka, now taller and older jumped up off the couch of the old house and came over to give the other man a back slapping hug. A few guys milled about the living room of the run down house, al wearing black leather jackets and chains. Little had changed other than what was worn under those jackets in the past twelve years. "How have you been man? You called what, like two weeks ago, and said something about family business? And who was that blonde dude that beat up Yoriko?"

"That was my brother." Hiroshi clenched a fist until Taka grabbed his shoulder and shook it lightly.

"Hey, relax man. None of that family crap here right?" He shrugged out of his heavy leather jacket, a bit of the red dragon on the back was visible as he tossed it over the back of the couch carelessly. He took a seat and waved Hiroshi over. "Have a seat. Hell, man have a fix!"

Hiroshi took a seat next to his old classmate cracked his neck before turning his eyes toward the table. Dime bags of speed were lined up neatly on one side with a mirror and razor blade in the center of the table. Hiroshi hadn't used this form in a long time but he felt his muscles relax as he pulled a pen from his pocket and disassembled it with ease. After he'd done two lines, inhaling them quickly through his nose he sighed. Not surprisingly he went through his usual coughing fit soon after but it didn't brother him two much. All his energy was back, in fact he felt twitchy sitting on this couch with nothing to do.

"So, feel better?" Taka watched his friend nod through another coughing fit and laughed. He looked at one of his companions and nodded toward the old kitchen. "Go get him some water! Had a feeling you'd be needing to relax before we talked. Being a doctor must be pretty hard on the nerves, huh? I think I'm just happy running my uncle's old business."

"You mean you'd rather make your money fast and easy." Hiroshi commented as he clamed down. He was handed a bottle of water and sipped at it as he slouched a bit.

"Damn straight! Kami knows I'd hate to have to spend as long as you did in school, and then have to make a name for myself to earn the big money." Taka laughed and crossed his legs, throwing his arms across the back of the couch. "Not that you had to do much on that last part, your family already has a pretty well known one."

"Yeah." Hiroshi sighed deeply and rubbed his temple as he remembered why he was so stressed out in the first place. "So, did someone get shot or something?"

"Nobody has to get shot for me to call on my favorite doctor." Taka tried to sound offended but it just didn't work. He gave up and just went back to his normal laid back mode. "Actually I wanted to thank you for what you did for my guy last month. You know the one I sent to the emergency room off the record."

"It's fine, call it even for what you had done to my brother's convertible."

"It belonged to that prick?" Taka sat up a bit and laughed as he shook his head. "Now I really owe you man, he deserved it for what he did to Yoriko. I don't think the boy's nose will ever look the same. What's wrong with your brother anyway?"

"He said Yoriko attacked him." Hiroshi commented, trying not to sound accusing. "I told you to warn them not to do that kind of thing around my home."

"Wont happen again. Your brother broke his nose, I broke his arm, I think the kid learned not to attack people in your home." Taka sighed and tilted his head to one side. "Has the old lady put you on lock down and why is your brother there anyway? I thought he moved out years ago?"

"I'm not on lock down we just have some company." Hiroshi looked over at Taka and grimaced. "I have to get some friends of the family to have their daughter marry me or I lose the hospital."

"Ouch." Taka stood up and stretched before grinning at him again. Hiroshi realized that unlike him, Taka always seemed to be grinning. The doctor in him wondered if the gang leader had fried his mood receptors or something. Taka pulled out a fat package from a nearby backpack and tossed it to the young doctor. Hiroshi blinked and Taka laughed again. "It's a thank you for all your help. Don't smoke it all at once."

"Probably best if I don't smoke it at all until my guests leave." Hiroshi looked like he was lamenting his own statement.

"Ah, that'll be hell on your nerves and all man. Try to resist it if you want, but take some of those bags if you to help take the edge off."

"Thank you Taka."

"Anytime." Taka messed Hiroshi's hair as he walked past and toward the front door. He paused and looked back at the other man. "I gotta go take care of some stuff, but if you want to hide out from the family for a while feel free."

The sports bike seemed to prowl to a stop in a slightly sandy parking space before Haruka shut the engine off. Her passenger slide gracefully from where she'd sat sidesaddle behind the racer, a feat that impressed Haruka quite a bit, and started to remove her helmet. The blonde's teal eyes watched for a moment before Haruka followed suit with her own helmet.

"So, you said you know a restaurant here?" Haruka commented as she hung her helmet from her motorcycle. She took Michiru's helmet as the shorter woman unzipped her borrowed leather jacket and smiled. The blonde had to admit, that smile could easily make men drop to their knees if that had been what the young artist before her wanted.

"It's just across the street." Michiru confirmed as she took the blonde's hand and led her toward a row of small businesses. Haruka blinked but didn't complain even as they seemed to draw the attention of people near them. Haruka knew some of the men were probably envying her at the moment. "I come here when I want to have some peace to think."

"And what are you thinking about today?" Haruka inquired as they entered the little indoor restaurant. All she received as an answer was another smile, though this one looked slightly more mischievous than any of the others.

"Kaioh-san." A young man greeted them with a bow. "Would you like your regular table?"

"Yes, thank you." Michiru responded and let go of Haruka's hand. They were led to a corner table next to a large window that looked out over the shoreline. The young man quickly handed over a set of menu's and strode back toward the door. Nothing else was said until after they'd given their orders to a waitress.

"So Michiru-san." Haruka took a drink of water and watched the young artist across the table. "Have you thought of a way out of our parents' arrangement yet?"

"Actually, I think I might have come up with something." Michiru smiled as the blonde raised an eyebrow. The artist set down her fork lightly and leaned across the table a bit. Her face became serious as she beckoned Haruka forward. "But I think I need to ask you something first."

"What's that?" Haruka responded, leaning over the table herself. Michiru leaned a bit closer and Haruka was caught off guard as she felt the other woman's breath on her ear.

"Why does everyone at the mansion pretend you're male?" Michiru whispered to the blonde. She kept her voice low not because she cared if anyone heard them, but rather because she didn't know if Haruka would care.

"I guess I should have expected an artist like you to catch that." Haruka whispered back, though she looked a little pale.

"I do paint as well, and I have studied the human body as part of my education." Michiru leaned back enough to offer the other woman a warm smile. "I knew the first day I met you, I've just been trying to figure out why your family was determined to make everyone believe otherwise."

"That's a very long story Michiru." Haruka sighed and hung her head a bit. Though her color had gone back to normal she didn't seem interested in her food anymore. "Maybe we can talk about it another time."

"As long as you promise to explain." Michiru responded with a playful tone in her voice. Finally teal eyes came back up to meet Michiru's blue eyes and Haruka smiled weakly at her.

"I'll promise if you'll share your plans." Haruka shot back in her own playful voice.

"Well, our parents agreed that I would marry a Tenoh heir but they never agreed it would be the first born." Michiru saw Haruka's eyebrows both go up unison at this and she couldn't help giggling a bit at the surprised expression.

"Wait. What are you suggesting exactly?" Haruka was turning the statement over and over in her mind looking for some logical conclusion. Anything other than what she took out of it at first glance. The blonde started to trip over her own words as she shook her head. "I can't. . . I mean we can't. . . I. . ."

"Haruka, relax."

"Hiroshi and my Grandmother would never go along with it."

"I don't need them to, it's actually best if they don't." Michiru reached out and patted the blonde's hand reassuringly. "The choice is in my parents hands."

"Okay, what are you getting at?" Haruka's teal eyes had narrowed a bit as she settled on listening to what the other woman had to say. Whenever she tried to puzzle out what Michiru meant in her mind she couldn't seem to get past the word marriage.

"All we have to do is make it look like we are falling for each other." Michiru sat back and smiled as confidently as she could. "I doubt my parents would make me marry Hiroshi-san thinking that I was in love with his brother. They'd be convinced it would be inviting trouble."

"That still places you in an arranged marriage from what I'm seeing." Haruka commented off-handedly. She was waiting to see how this would improve things, aside from freeing the other woman from Hiroshi.

"Not really, as you said your Grandmother won't go along with it. She'll be afraid of my parents finding out the truth."

"So she won't be able to explain to them why she refuses to let us be married." Haruka started to smile a bit as she realized exactly what the other woman's plan was. The race car driver could just imagine her Maiko's reaction if the Kaioh's were to decide their daughter was best with the young blonde. The ensuing argument probably wouldn't be pretty once it got going. "So our families end up in a deadlock on which brother the groom should be."

"Hopefully both sides will decide the whole thing is too much trouble and it will all be over in a few months." Michiru finished with a satisfied smile, confident that if the blonde saw it too then the plan had a chance. "And all you have to do for this to work is to be yourself."

"Oh, and what do you mean by that?" Haruka leaned her chin on one hand, elbow propped on the table as the artist leaned forward again. If possible Michiru's smile was more mischievous than the one she'd graced the blonde with when they arrived.

"Just keep playing the charming host while your brother does his best to impress my parents. So far you've been the only Tenoh to take the time to get to know me." Michiru winked something that Haruka would previously have assumed to be out of character for the young woman. "If anyone asks, you're just keeping me company so I won't be bored."

"Which gives me a defense when my family starts to think I'm up to something." Haruka commented with respect for the woman's foresight. She frowned lightly as she sat back in her chair and aired the one worry that still nagged her. "You're banking a lot on your parents not just deciding I would make the caring brother you never had before."

"And on my own skills as an actress." Michiru leaned back and held up her glass with a smile. "So, just be you and leave the rest to me. Do we have a deal?"

"And if they choose Hiroshi regardless?" Haruka questioned with another raised eyebrow.

"Then I may need a lift to the airport at three in the morning one night, you'll be more than welcome to come along on the flight."

"Then I think we have a deal." Haruka finally agreed and lifted her water glass to click against Michiru's. "But let's hope this works."

**Review Responses:**

**Glowie: **Thank you for your review. Sorry for the delay, I was a little busy.

**Petiyaka: **Hiroshi can be a pain, but believe or not there was a good guy in him once. As for what's with the two brothers, well they've had more issues to face than either lets on. They're based off a real life pair… In fact, if you've read "Bottom of the Bottle" Hiroshi is based off the same young man as Haruka's brother in that story. He fell off the "wagon" and his behavior after inspired this new character.

**Shalimar23: **Thank you. B-) I'll do me best to keep it up.

**Bibi3758: **B-) I'm sorry for the long waits I keep putting everybody through; my life's just been a bit busy. That plus the splitting headaches I'd been having tend to slow me down some.

**Hpsailorstarluver: **lol! No need to beg I'll try to get these posted faster whenever I can. B-) Hiroshi is a huge pain; he's just always too busy dealing with his own problems to give a thought to anyone else. Hey, what do you think of Michiru's plan?

**Riva van Dyk: **I think if I owned Haruka's convertible I'd just not know what to do. After I finally unfroze I'd probably either sick the police on Hiroshi or chase the guy down. Still, it'd kind of defeat Haruka's wish to keep the peace with in her family. Give it time though, Hiroshi will get paid back by Karma for the incident. B-) Of course, since I'm the author I can make sure of that. Thank you for the review.

**TheLadyAmethyst: **Thank you and I hope the wait wasn't too long. I got stuck at one point on the conversation between Haruka and Michiru, and in fact I've rewritten parts of it about five times. Poor old Ichiro actually got cut from this chapter.

**Jker: **I'll do my best to keep this one going. I always hate that feeling I get when a story I really enjoyed gets discontinued or removed, so I try not to do it myself. Thank you for the review.

**Okay ladies and gentlemen, that concludes this chapter. Please keep reviewing; it's really keeping me going on this story. I've had a hard time continuing it but your reviews have kept me determined to see it through. I am going to try to use the new "polls" feature to get some feed back also so we'll see how that works.**

**If you get the chance feel free to check out my myspace profile just search the email harukas knight yahoo. com The display name should show Ruka (Haruka's Knight of Fan fiction. Net)**

**Alright, I'm off to work on another chapter.**


	8. First Step

**Chapter 8: First Step**

The growl of a motorcycle engine being cut off outside the expensive mansion is what caught the attention of Suguru and Saki Kaioh as they waited in the den for the two riders. Suguru's blue eyes could already see that his wife had tensed and he was silently willing this not to be another of the infamous fights between mother and daughter. Saki had promised to stay calm, but once the two were in the same place it was often anyone's guess what would happen next.

The door opened, Ichiro's quite voice was heard and soon after two sets of foot steps approached. There was a pause, Suguru could just make out that Michiru's voice was whispering something but he couldn't tell what. He was also sure he'd heard a quite reply come from Haruka before a set of foot steps seemed to trail off up the stairs. Saki was watching the door to the den as it slowly opened and their daughter entered, taking a moment to bow respectfully to her parents.

"Please have a seat Michiru." Suguru smiled at his daughter and indicated a chair beside him, across the room from his wife. The youngest Kaioh was doing her best not to seem hesitant about whatever it was that her parents wanted to talk about.

"Where were you?" Saki asked her voice still neutral for the moment.

"Haruka-san invited me to lunch." Michiru smiled slightly as she answered her mother. She didn't notice her father watching them both and seeming to try to gauge things silently.

"You left a few hours ago." Saki pointed out, dark eyes narrowing slightly at her only child. She mentally bit her tongue to keep from sounding too accusatory. After a few moments of regarding the young woman she spoke again. "Where did you go to eat and what took so long?"

"We went to a small place down by the beach." Michiru started to almost feel like the whole conversation was a game of chess. That in mind she decided now was as good a time as any to start her plan. "Haruka-san had promised to take me for a ride on his motorcycle so after lunch we rode around for a while."

"You two seem to have been spending a lot of time together." Suguru pointed out, trying to interrupt his wife's soon to be interrogation. He sighed as he received a glare from his wife but focused instead on his daughter. "Some people may start to mistake you for a couple, if no one has yet."

"Haruka-san was being nice; he didn't want me to be bored and alone. He's been a charming host." The young woman smiled a little more brightly as she said this and her parents exchanged another look. Saki clearly wanted to say something but Suguru again cut in before she could.

"So he's just being a good host?" Suguru eyed his daughter in a slightly protective manner. For the first time in the entire conversation Michiru felt the under lying tension snap and laughed at her father's look. He raised an eyebrow and poked her shoulder. "If he hasn't I can talk to him."

"He's been nothing but a wonderful host father." Michiru hugged her father's arm, remembering her time in school. Her father had come all the way to her school one day after finding out a boy had made an inappropriate comment to her. He'd barged into the office and demanded to speak to the boy himself. The boy had been so scared after that, though the school hadn't let Suguru near him that he'd never even looked her way again.

"So if we were to pick Hiroshi-san tomorrow you'd have no problem with our decision?" Saki's voice held a measured tone and she watched how the comment sobered her daughter quickly. Michiru seemed to be thinking over how to respond to that comment for a few long moments.

"You haven't decided, have you?" Her voice was filled with mild worry and Saki raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

"I thought, Michiru, that you were against an arranged marriage all together." Mother and daughter watched each other again.

"I am." Michiru's expression became a cool mask of indifference as she spoke. "I'm still hoping that you'll change your minds all together."

"No decision had been made yet but maybe you could lend us your opinion." Suguru saw Michiru begin to smile lightly again as he said those words. He thought over his words carefully before he said anything. "We haven't spent much time around Haruka-san yet you two seem to be getting to know each other. How would you describe Haruka-san?"

"Charming, kind, polite." Michiru turned her full attention toward her father as she continued to speak. "He's been nice enough to drive me to anywhere I might need to go. He has been polite enough to invite me along to business parties and to get to know me. Over all he's a very charming young man."

"Not to mention good looking?" Suguru commented in a teasing voice, expecting his daughter to deny the comment. He was surprised when Michiru looked away with a blush and nodded mutely to agree with the observation.

"Keep in mind that the choice is ours to make young lady." Saki spoke in a calm voice but Michiru was sure that a wrong word right now may set off the older woman.

"Of course mother."

"I think that's enough for now." Suguru gently squeezed his daughter's shoulder and nodded toward the door. Michiru knew this was his queue to her that she should get out while she could. "I think your mother and I should talk."

Michiru stood, bowing again before she silently left the room. When the door was shut behind her she sighed in relief and turned toward the stairs. It didn't take her long to make her way up the stairs to her guest room and she smiled at the blonde waiting for her there.

Haruka was lying on Michiru's bed with her head hanging off one side playing a PSP. Based on the sound of a police siren, what sounded like a crash and car engines Michiru'd have to guess it was a racing game. She sat down next to the blonde, who looked comfortable in a position that shouldn't be.

"How did it go?" Haruka spoke quietly, turning the game off and shifting her teal eyes up to the other woman.

"Well, judging by their reactions and questions I would say that my mother thinks you are trying to seduce me and my father thinks I would like to seduce you." Michiru laughed at the upside down look of confusion she received. "They called me because they wanted to know where we went all afternoon."

"Did you tell them about our secret no clothing allowed beach party?" Haruka asked in an over dramatic voice as she set her PSP aside and slowly sat up. The young racer had to grab her head at the sudden change in blood flow.

"No, but my father did ask for my opinion of you." Michiru managed between the giggles caused by the goofier side of the blonde.

"And you said you were falling madly in love but you'd been rebuffed by me as I already had a fan club president right?"

"Haruka!" Michiru slapped the blonde's arm as said woman started to laugh. Michiru shook her head and sighed. "And how do I know you aren't the president of my fan club's Tokyo chapter?"

"Ah, I tried but they said the position was already filled I'm afraid." Haruka placed a hand over her chest and pretended to be deeply disappointed. "However I consoled myself by merely buying a copy of every CD you ever released."

"Very funny." Michiru stuck her tongue out at the blonde who smirked and winked at her.

"But I really do have all your cds."

"I'm sure." Michiru stated in a very unconvinced voice.

"I'll prove it, just come to my apartment one day."

"If my father heard that he'd be convinced you were just making up a reason."

"What if I were?" Haruka laughed when Michiru slapped her arm again. Teal eyes met blue and Haruka's laugh died into a smile before she stretched and stood from the bed. She grabbed her PSP, making it fit in one of her pockets to Michiru's surprise. "Well, best I get out of here before your parents decide we require a shot gun wedding."

"Haruka." Michiru caught the woman's wrist for a moment and the blonde looked at her. Michiru smiled in return and raised an eyebrow. "Do you realize how much fun you can be when you're relaxed?"

"Thank you for the compliment." Haruka leaned down to bring her face close to Michiru's, smirking when this caused Michiru to blush again. "Normally I don't relax very much in this house, but your company's made all the difference Miss Kaioh."

Michiru was quiet as Haruka stood straight again and left the room. She hoped this plan worked, because there was just no way she sticking around to find out if Hiroshi had anything truly in common with his younger sister. Something told her that in a lot of ways the two were as different on the inside as they physically were on the outside.

"Master Haruka." Ichiro's quiet voice made the blonde jump just as she left Michiru's room. With a nervous smile she turned to face the butler, knowing that she'd have a much harder time explaining why she was in the woman's room than why they spent so much time together. He didn't seem about to comment, so the blonde took a few steps nearer to him.

"Yes, Ichiro-san?"

"The hospital just called for Master Hiroshi." Haruka raised an eyebrow at this, not seeing what it had to do with her. The butler sighed a bit deeply and continued. "Master Hiroshi left for the hospital over an hour ago, he hasn't returned yet they seem to need him there."

"Why did he leave earlier?" Haruka felt herself becoming suspicious again.

"He claimed they had paged him and left in a very cheerful mood."

"Wait, Hiroshi got paged to come in after his shift and left cheerfully?" Haruka blinked as she thought this over. "Did he even call them back?"

"No Master Haruka."

"Does Grandma know yet?"

"No."

"Good." Haruka turned toward the end of the hall and spoke over her shoulder to him. "I'm going to go find his car and make sure he's okay, see if you can keep this from getting to my Grandmother or the Kaiohs."

"Consider it done Master Haruka." The old butler started to turn and Haruka turned back herself.

"Wait, Ichiro-san." The butler turned to look at her again. Haruka smiled a bit nervously at him. "Can we keep the fact that I just came out of Michiru-san's room between us?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about Master Haruka." With out another word Ichiro disappeared down the stairs and Haruka grinned. The man had always reminded her of an uncle or a grandfather more than a butler. After a moment she sighed heavily and started toward her room in the attic.

"Hiroshi, what the hell are you pulling this time?" She muttered.

Hiroshi looked out the cracked window of a second story room in the small house. The man's brown eyes watched the few people brave enough to travel this area after dark. Under a flickering street lamp he could also make out the three men in leather jackets that leaned against his car, making sure no one would touch the doctor's Honda. Taka was still off but that only gave the man a bit more peace, with out his old classmate trying to cheer him up.

"Why the hell did Haru have to come home?" Hiroshi growled to himself. He could remember vividly the conversation he and Maiko had regarding the blonde's return.

_Hiroshi was aggravated as he followed Ichiro into the den where Maiko waited. She was sitting in an old recliner with a cup of coffee in her hands as she watched him enter. Hiroshi, for his part, picked a chair and all but threw himself into it. He crossed his arms and jiggled his foot with an expression that clearly conveyed that he saw whatever would come next as a complete waste of time. He ignored how Ichiro pulled the den door closed and stood before it as if guarding them._

_"We will soon be welcoming some very important guests, which means among other things that we will not be welcoming your personal guests." Maiko's voice held clear distaste for her grandson's choice of company. As the last word left her mouth Hiroshi was already rising to his feet with angry indignation stamped across his features._

_"I am a grown man and I will not be told what to do by you or anyone else!" As the young doctor turned toward the door however he was halted by her next words._

_"You most certainly well if you expect to live here as well as continue working at Tenchi." Maiko smiled as the young man froze in his steps, he couldn't see it but he knew she was smiling. The old woman had one up on him if she was playing this card. "Sit back down."_

_"You can't do this; it's my right as the heir." Hiroshi tried to sound confident but he felt as if his confidence were starting to desert him. "I have more right to be here than you do, as a Tenoh by birth."_

_"Young man, don't try me. First, your Grandfather left our family holdings to me alone, not to your father so until I die no one has any claim to anything." Her gray eyes seemed to be shooting daggers at him as he took his seat again. "Secondly, as I recall, you are not the only Tenoh heir left."_

_"What are you saying? Haruka left us and is out trying to get herself killed." His voice gained venom again as they landed on the topic of his only sibling. "Who would hand the hospital or any of the family holding to her?"_

_"I would in a heartbeat if you don't shape up." Hiroshi clamped his jaw tightly shut as Maiko said this, knowing full well the old woman had the legal right to do it if she so chose. Hell, she could leave the lot to Ichiro if she chose and there was little he could do._

_"What do you want this time?" He ground out, feeling as if he'd scream soon._

_"As I said, we will be having some important family guests so we need to set some ground rules. I called you here to tell you what is expected of you and what will happen if you don't do as I say." Maiko relaxed into her chair as Hiroshi's hand gripped the arm rests of his own so hard his knuckled were white. "Rule number one is that I do not want any of your friends with in ten miles of this mansion while they are here. Is that clear?"_

_"Yes." Hiroshi ground out through his clenched jaw muscles._

_"Rule number two is that our guests are not to, nor am I to; find anything relating to your personal habit."_

_"I stopped that years ago." Hiroshi snapped but he knew the old woman still suspected him regardless. He would never live down his past, would never stop having it thrown in his face. What the hell had been the point of the year he'd spent in withdrawal? No one in his family had taken notice; no they'd still watched him._

_"I'm sure you did for a short time." Maiko waved off his defense with out any care, she'd stopped acting like she believed him years ago. Currently cold gray eyes locked on the young doctor and her voice held steel in its tone. "Regardless, if they so much as ask me about odd behavior from you I'll make sure you have no claim to anything."_

_"Is there anything else your majesty?" The doctor shot back sarcastically._

_"Yes, in fact there is." Maiko waved toward a family picture adorning one wall and her smile warmed a fraction. "Haruka will be returning for there visit as well, I need you both here."_

_"What?" Hiroshi stood again and glared at her as he waved his arms erratically. "Why in the hell do we need her interference? Has she ever lifted a hand to hold up the family name? Has she once done anything for anyone but herself?"_

_"Sit down young man!" Maiko stood as well and held a look that left no doubt that she wouldn't take much more from the younger Tenoh's mouth. "Unless you'd rather I sign everything into Haruka's name tomorrow."_

_"Don't expect me to treat her like a guest." Hiroshi muttered as he fell back into his chair again._

_"What I expect is for you to treat her as your brother, just as we have done publicly for years." Maiko slowly eased into her own seat again and took a moment to calm her self before she continued. "Our guests won't be here to just take a vacation; they will be looking for a husband for their daughter."_

_"I don't want to marry some random woman so why do I care?"_

_"Because this was already arranged, there going to choose between the Tenoh boys. One of you was promised to them before your mother even died." Maiko shook her finger at the man before her. "By Kami Hiroshi if they choose Haruka I will disinherit you. If you want the hospital, then you'll be planning for your wedding soon."_

Hiroshi came out of thoughts as a motorcycle shot quickly past the house. The men guarding his car turned their heads to watch it disappear down the street until it was out of sight. The doctor let out an aggravated growl and looked as if he was going to pull out his own hair. He knew he had to get this all over somehow; the answer just wasn't coming to him.

Haruka sighed as she slowly as she brought the motorcycle to a halt before a nice apartment building. The blonde had a hunch, and she almost hated the fact she'd been proven correct as se pulled her helmet off and headed for the building entrance. Needless to say that an upscale apartment complex was the last place people expected to find the blonde as she was currently dressed. Heads turned as she calmly caught an elevator up several floors. The young racer caught a teen girl eyeing her in the elevator and grinned in a playful manner. For whatever reason the girl turned bright pink and focused her eyes on the nearest wall.

Once she reached the floor she was looking for she got out and quickly strode along the corridor. There were few doors up here, being that each apartment was big enough to be a small one level house. She stopped before a particular door and pushed the door bell set in the wall next to it.

"Who is it?" Called a timid voice after a brief pause.

"Tenoh Haruka." The blonde answered and grinned widely when the door swung open and she found herself standing before a young woman roughly a foot and half shorter than her. The seventeen year old adjusted her reading glasses o that her blue eyes could look over them to take in her guest's appearance.

Haruka stood before her in black boots with exposed metal protection the toes; they came up her calf with several metal clasps to secure them. For pants the blonde wore an older and slightly faded pair of black slacks with a chain hanging out of one pocket attached to her belt, the buckle on which showed clearly a skull and cross bones. Her jacket, all black and designed to protect the rider from road rash, was unzipped to show a black t-shirt bearing another skull and cross bones. To cap it all off her hands were covered in black gloves that had small metal plates on them.

"Why are you dressed like that Haruka-sama?" Tumbled out of the girl's mouth before she could get over the shock.

"Good evening to you to, Ami-chan. How are you?" Haruka's grin became a sadistic smirk when the blue haired high school student before her turned bright red and muttered an apology. The blonde took some pity and shrugged off the apology. "It's okay Ami-chan, I was just out doing a bit of night recon."

"And what exactly brought you to our door, Haruka-kun?" This question came from an older woman as she walked out of the living room holding a thick book. Her keen blue eyes, hidden behind her own customary glasses, gazed warmly at the young woman on the step. "You don't look like you've been in any sort of accident? Is Tenoh-sama alright?"

"My grandmother is fine Mizuno-sempie, but I'm afraid I need a favor." Haruka gave Ami a helplessly apologetic look before turning her full attention toward the older Mizuno. "I need you to take care of something at the hospital."

"Haruka-kun, you know my days off are few and at times very far between." The doctor raised an eyebrow in question at the blonde. "And I'm sure that you've been informed that I now only allow them to call me in on such an occasion if it directly affects your family."

"I'm aware Mizuno-sempie, and it does." Haruka bowed her head as she continued with a sigh. "I'm not sure what Hiroshi's field is but the hospital has been trying to get him."

"He's disappeared again hasn't he." The statement was followed by a sigh and Doctor Mizuno turned to set her book down on a small table near the door. She began to walk down the hall as she spoke. "I'll get my keys, but I would appreciate if you'd keep Ami-chan company while I'm gone."

"Um." Haruka unintelligently looked back toward her seventeen year old charge and scratched her neck nervously. After a moment she smiled and offered Ami her helmet. "I hope you don't mind coming by the mansion for a while. We have company and if Hiroshi and I both disappear Grandma Tenoh will be on the war path."

Haruka's statement wasn't entirely in correct. As she entered the house followed by Ami Mizuno they were stopped. Ichiro looked at them for a moment, Haruka knew exactly what had happened, it was dinner time and the old butler had been stalling for her return. Ichiro, for his part, welcomed Ami and politely took her coat and the helmet as Haruka raced wordlessly up the stairs to change. The man blinked, since the blonde was gone so quickly it was almost as if she'd never stood before him.

Inside the dining room Maiko was getting slightly impatient as she'd been waiting for her grandchildren for a little over ten minutes. She'd found out from the Kaiohs that Hiroshi had been summoned to the hospital but no one seemed to have any idea where Haruka had disappeared to. Or at least they didn't until Ichiro led Ami in and pulled out the chair next to Michiru for the teen.

"Master Haruka has returned with a guest." Ichiro announced as Maiko looked surprised. She quickly shook the surprise off and smiled to the nervous teen now sitting at the table with them.

"Ami-chan!" Maiko seemed delighted with this surprise and Ichiro thought to himself that this may just save the younger of his two masters. The oldest Tenoh looked around the table and nodded toward the teen. "This is Mizuno Ami, her mother works at Tenchi and is also our family doctor. Ami-san these are Suguru, Saki and Michiru Kaioh. They are close family friends and have been staying with us for a time."

"It's very nice to meet you." Ami spoke quietly and bowed a bit awkwardly in her seat.

"Ichiro, tell Haruka-kun that he should be quick with whatever he's doing." Maiko said when everyone had greeted the teen politely.

"I'm already here." All eyes looked up to see Haruka striding in the door with a slightly nervous smile as she bowed. "I'm sorry that I'm late, something came up that needed to be taken care of immediately."

"And what was that?" Maiko asked as Haruka slid into the chair on Ami's other side.

"My mother agreed to take an extra shift for a friend who had a personal emergency." Ami interjected as politely as possible and blushed at the five sets of eyes now focused on her. "She didn't want to leave me home alone and we happened across Haruka-san on his way home."

"After that I had to swing by their apartment long enough to get Ami-chan's school work and a change of clothes." Haruka looked to Maiko for permission. "I was hoping she could use one of the guest rooms as her mother may be at the hospital all night."

"That's fine." Maiko visibly relaxed and seemed to let things slide once again. Haruka breathed a mental sigh of relief for the fact that her grandmother had always liked the young genius next to her. Haruka would go so far as to say that Maiko even viewed Ami as a third grandchild. Haruka still remembered how worried her grandmother had been the day Doctor Mizuno went into early labor. Haruka's poor father had been forced to get up at an odd hour of the morning, along with his two children, in order for them all to ride down to Tenchi. Even ten year old Hiroshi had seemed pale with worry as they followed their father around the small gift shop looking for flowers and a teddy bear.

The conversation at the table turned again to the hospital, its business workings and medical equipment. While Haruka and Michiru did their best not to appear alternatively lost or bored young Ami took it all in with clear interest. In fact soon she was taking part in the discussion herself and causing the two young women to either side of her to be impressed with her clear knowledge. No one, aside from Maiko, expected someone so young to already know so much about the medical field or about Tenchi itself. Haruka grinned, and then winked at Michiru over the teen's head. In return she received a curious look.

Ichiro slipped out of the room as the house phone rang. He answered in a professional tone.

"Hello Ichiro-san. Are Haruka-kun and Ami-chan there?"

"Yes Mizuno-sempie." The man heard a sigh of relief and could picture the doctor shaking her head. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just that I'm sure Haruka-kun must have broken a number of laws to get back so quickly." There was a pause before he heard what sounded like a small alarm going off somewhere in the background. "Well you please let them know that I won't be able to leave the hospital until morning?"

"Of course Mizuno-sempie."

"And I hope that it's okay for Ami-chan to stay there tonight, I really don't want her to be a burden."

"It's taken care of Mizuno-sempie. Tenoh-sama was quite happy to see her."

"Thank you Ichiro-san, please tell them I say thank you."

"I will. Good night Mizuno-sempie."

**Review Responses:**

**The Lady Amethyst: **Thank you, though it may take a little while for it to show if the plan will work or not.

**Shalimar 23: **B-) I'd had to give her credit for being the brains now and then. Not to say Haruka isn't intelligent too, but Michiru has far more of a reason to find a way out. I hope the wait for this chapter wasn't too long.

**Petiyaka: **Thank you; I actually liked Bottom of the Bottle myself. I felt like it actually held a message rather than just expressing an idea or getting something off my mind. (sighs) It worse to see him losing himself so up close. . .

I hope the progression with the Kaiohs' and Hiroshi's reactions wont drag too much, fell free to yell at me via review if it does. B-) Oh, and thank you for being a returning reader. Honestly I'm glad people have read more than one of my posting.

**Mantaray: **First off, you have a cool screen name. B-) I actually should thank you for giving me the preverbal push to write longer chapters. Hey, this makes two over 4,000 words. Hope I didn't have you wait too long. B-)

**HP Sailor Star Luver: **It'll be at least one more chapter before I explain why Haruka is pretending to be male, though I've put in references here and there. I'll try to fit that explanation in soon, but no promises yet. I will explain it before the end though. Hiroshi actually is a lot sadder than I've let on so far, and he's not exactly a bad guy fully by choice. About Michiru, will you'll just have to see right?

**Heat Queen: **Thank you for the good advice. I've noticed that I have a failing with thoughts and emotions of my characters but I'll try to work on it a bit. As for the Kaioh's and Hiroshi in relation to Michiru I will be adding more interaction coming up soon. So far they actually have been ignoring each other; Hiroshi is pretty well only interested in winning her parents so he hasn't bothered. Still, I'll try to get some interaction between the two soon. Thank you again. B-)

**Ja-fall2pieces: **Thank you. As for Taka and Hiroshi, well more will show up later. I will say they were the president and vice president of their class in school together. Taka, however, was the popular bad boy while Hiroshi was the smart rich kid looking for a real friend. Bad combination right?

**Glowie: **You know, when I first typed out that conversation between them I just had a mental image of the two running off to Vegas. Didn't seem as plausible though, and I had a hard time picturing her parents falling for a fake marriage which would likely have caused more trouble than if she just walked away. Okay, well here's the latest chapter and I'll try to work on the next one A.S.A.P.

**Author's Note: **

4,587 words this time, though I fell like it drifted away from the story a bit. I was trying to bring back into play some of the other characters. Hiroshi has been hard for me to bring back in due to some personal issues with the person who inspired his character.

Sorry, this took longer than I expected. I've been feeling very much like there aren't enough hours in the day lately and time is just running away from me. While most of you out there are likely asleep (from say 10 pm until 7am) I am hard at work and doing my best to master my night job. Luckily I cut out my day job, unfortunately other things have cropped up including a lingering sinus infection, hospital visits by my sister and grandmother, boy scout trips for my nephews, running to pay bills, getting my brother-in-laws car fixed. . . It's been a busy time. B-) Though I won a few ego points when I nailed what was wrong with the aforementioned car. Father-in-law said battery, I said alternator belt. We put in a new battery to humor him, it died and I found myself push a black Kia alone. Went to a shop, got it looked at and they put in a new alternator belt (seems the old one was just flat out missing).

Okay, sadly I will have no more days off until about October 17 or after. That said, I'll do my best to get a new chapter out soon but I can't promise how soon.

Take care everyone.


	9. Some Things Never Change

**Chapter 9: Some Things Never Change**

Haruka stood a bit rigidly as she heard the door of the mansion's library shut behind her. Maiko Tenoh took a seat in the comfortable brown armchair nearest the door and waved her granddaughter toward the antique wooden desk which sat a few feet away from it. With out a word the blonde slowly walked over and sat in the wooden chair behind the desk.

"Where did you go after lunch, Haruka?" Maiko watched the blonde as she grimaced. The eldest Tenoh held up a single hand to stall her grandchild's words. "The next words that come out of your mouth need to be the truth. Do not lie to me."

"Of course not Grandma." Haruka raised her teal eyes to meet a set of gray eyes gazing into her own.

"Do you know where Hiroshi is?" Maiko smiled as she watched Haruka flinch. She could easily tell that her granddaughter knew something. "Where is he?"

"I know where I found his car, but I'd rather not say." The blonde's eyes shifted toward the top of the old wooden desk. "To be honest I have no way to even know he was anywhere near his own car."

"I'll give him twenty-four hours, if he isn't back by then I expect you to answer." Maiko sighed thinking to herself of different the two siblings were. There was a time when she'd have called them both her pride and joy, however that had passed years ago. It seemed that when ever a Tenoh hit high school she suddenly failed to understand any of their reasoning from then on. Gray eyes watched as Haruka relaxed a bit into the chair again and Maiko smiled. "Where were you?"

"I went looking for Hiro." The blonde started to rub her temple as if she'd gotten a sudden headache. Just thinking about how badly this discussion could go made her flinch. "That was when I spoke to Doctor Mizuno."

"Is it?" Maiko eyed her grandchild and almost laughed. Her grandchildren always seemed to underestimate her, thinking that because they didn't say something she wouldn't see it. No, Hiroshi was clearly up to something and to spite how badly he'd treated his sister she was still protecting him. This wasn't a surprise; this was always how the two had been. Teal eyes came up again and Maiko could remember Haruka as an eight year old girl.

_Maiko Tenoh slowly took a seat in her den, enjoying her day off immensely. At seventy-one years old she was the old member of the Tenchi Hospital board but she'd sooner go to a retirement home than allow a group of forty year old men cart her out of her position. She slowly reached for the novel she kept beside her favorite chair and froze when she felt the cloth of a bandana instead._

_Maiko turned her head and slowly lifted the bandana from the table. What she found were the remains of a porcelain doll. She sighed heavily and stood, calling out for Ichiro and a maid._

_"Clean this up before Haruka cuts herself on the shards." She ordered the maid before turning to the family butler. "Bring Hiroshi and Haruka down here."_

_"Master Hiroshi is currently out." Ichiro informed her, and then left to retrieve Haruka as he received a small nod from his mistress. It wasn't long before Haruka, still in her baseball uniform minus the cleats appeared in the doorway. The maid passed her quietly and Haruka paled as she saw what was in a dust pan the woman carried._

_"Where's Hiroshi Grandma?" Haruka asked seemingly out of nowhere. Maiko raised an eyebrow and held up the red bandana she'd found._

_"I don't know Haruka." Maiko saw little teal eyes widen and knew she was onto something. "Can you explain this to me?"_

_"It was an accident." Haruka fidgeted a little and looked toward the ground before she spoke. "Gomen. I was playing with my bat inside and it hit your doll."_

_"Are you sure that's what happened?" Maiko watched her granddaughter nod and sighed. She knew it wasn't the full story; however she also knew that Haruka wasn't going to tell her what fell between the bat and the shattered doll. "Go to your room Haruka. I want you to pack all of your baseball equipment neatly into its duffle bag. I'll send Ichiro up for it later and it will stay in the garage from now on. Am I clear?"_

_"Yes Grandma." Haruka was dismissed and she left the room silently. Ichiro, having stood silently near the door, cleared his throat softly._

_"What is it Ichiro-san?"_

_"Haruka did not break the doll Tenoh-sama." Ichiro stood straight as he spoke. "Master Haruka did carry it into the room swinging it slightly as Master Hiroshi followed. I looked in on them a few times to make sure they were alright."_

Maiko shook away the memory as she heard her granddaughter's worried tone. Her gray eyes looked up to the blonde woman now kneeling near her feet and she smiled warmly as she patted the twenty-two year old on the head.

"You'll never change, will you Haruka?" Maiko laughed when all she received in answer was a clearly confused look from the younger Tenoh. After a moment she leaned forward to give her granddaughter a slightly awkward hug before waving her hand dismissively. "Go to bed, or whatever it is you do at night. I'll never understand why people your age don't sleep when they should."

"Good night Grandma." Haruka stood and left the room. When she shut the door behind her she let out a heavy sigh. Maiko Tenoh wasn't a young woman, though she'd always seemed to be to her granddaughter. She'd learned catch from the old woman, been taken to play basketball and spent a number of her youngest years talking the woman's ear off. It scared the blonde to see how much the woman had changed since her father's death. Somehow, that eternal seeming fire was dimmed.

Haruka was distracted from her thoughts when she heard another door shut further up the corridor. The blonde looked over only to find Michiru standing outside the door of the den looking as if she'd just stepped out of a war zone. Haruka noticed the young woman's eyes were closed and she couldn't help the mischievous grin on her face. Everyone in this mansion could use a day off before they finally just snapped from all the different forms of stress. With this in mind Haruka walked over to the other young woman as quietly as she could and slowly reached around to cover her closed eyes. Michiru flinched at first and Haruka bit her lip to avoid laughing.

"Guess who." The blonde whispered playfully and felt the other young woman relax considerable.

"Ichiro-san?" Michiru guessed, though Haruka could hear the barely contained amusement in her voice.

"Strike one."

"Hiroshi-sempei?" Michiru tried again and Haruka laughed a little. She leaned a bit closer and whispered near the violin player's ear.

"I think you just insulted me Kaioh-san."

"Oh, than it must be Mizuno-san." Michiru said, barely holding in her laugh as Haruka laughed at the mental image of Ami standing with Michiru like this. The poor girl wouldn't have the self confidence around someone she'd barely met. Michiru spun to face the blonde, placing a hand over Haruka's mouth to muffle her laugher. Teal eyes met blue and Michiru tilted her head to the side. She grabbed the tall blonde woman by the arm and started to lead her off down the hall. "Do you want my parents to come out here?"

"Suguru, what are you looking at?" Saki arched a brow toward her husband who was now peering through a crack in the door with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Do you want my parents to come out here?" He heard Michiru whisper as she lead the youngest Tenoh heir down the hall. He heard Saki stand so he closed the door again and turned toward his wife with as innocent of a look as he could manage.

"Nothing, but I have been thinking." Suguru fiddled with something in his pocket as he spoke, a nervous habit that didn't escape his wife's serious brown eyes. She waited for him to speak again and frowned when she heard his next words. "We really should get to know Haruka-kun a bit more if we want to make a fair choice, don't you think?"

"Suguru, he races cars for a living." Saki sat back down and shook her head as if that alone should remove the man from the list of possibilities. "Instead of using the opportunities being born into such well connected family afforded him he chose to get into a career field that's dangerous and mostly dependent on luck."

"Actually there's a lot more skill involved in professional racing than most people think." Michiru's father took his own seat again and thought back on the races he'd seen on TV. "It seems to take a lot of practice and concentration to negotiate any track at speeds that high. Just imagine how much skill it would take to pass other cars at well over a hundred miles an hour."

"I'd rather not." Saki replied dryly and shook her head. "He's a thrill seeker and his job will keep him on the road and away from home for most of the year I'd imagine."

"But so does Michiru's." Suguru pointed out and saw a frown creasing his wife's brow. Suguru took another shot at that point. "In fact, maybe her manager can work it out so that her concerts fall darning the season so they have time off together."

"Or perhaps if she becomes fond of Hiroshi she'd be more likely to settle down herself." Saki replied with out missing a beat as she looked at her husband suspiciously. "A doctor or a race car driver? Why on Earth should we even consider binding our daughter to someone who may leave her a widow from a normal day at work?"

"Because he's been making her smile." Suguru said simply and saw how his wife just paused. It was clear she was replaying their stay in the Tenoh home now and his smile was just a bit smug for taking notice of the fact before she did. "Hiroshi gets along well with us, he seems to be a competent doctor and he is set to inherit the family hospital. The question isn't if he's a respectable young man, but is he going to make our daughter happy?"

Ami felt oddly as if she'd landed in the middle of a strange game of chess. Though she'd enjoyed the conversation over dinner she had a feeling that Haruka had left out something very important about her house guests. She wasn't surprised when Michiru and her parents disappeared into the den after dinner. She was less surprised when Ichiro stopped Haruka in the hall at Maiko's request. The young blue haired honor student however had the luck to practically have been adopted by the Tenohs, so she knew the mansion almost as well as they did.

Ami came to the door she was looking for and paused, knocking just in case though she knew Hiroshi wasn't home. Even if he were, she very much doubted he would have entered this room. As she opened the door and switched on the lights she took comfort in the familiar feel of the old office itself. Though its owner had passed away at least a year before she could still detect a distinct sent of pipe tobacco and after shave.

Book shelves lined the east and west walls, a window took up the south wall opposite the door though the heavy brown curtains were drawn shut. A heavy wooden desk sat before the window with a heavy wool coat hanging over the back of the chair and an empty pipe resting lightly on top of the desk. Aside from some missing books, ones the teen knew now resided in Haruka's Tokyo apartment, his office was unchanged from the way Yoshi Tenoh had left it. Ami had spent a number of visits to the mansion either reading over the extensive collection of history books and mystery novels or studying history with the man himself at that desk. She'd always been grateful to know that she had not only her mother to ask about science, but the ever friendly Yoshi to ask for help in history class. The man had taken it on himself to put his bachelor's degree to work teaching the doctor's daughter world history and correcting what he called "political history rewrites" taught in Japanese schools.

Now the office was the closest she could come to speaking with the man again. He'd been like an uncle or surrogate father to her and knowing he was gone just increased her urge to seek out this room. To feel just a little closer to days past.

"How did I guess I'd find you here?" The voice startled Ami for a moment and the teen spun to face the door. Her heart beat slowly returned to normal when she found Haruka standing there smiling at her instead of the disembodied spirit of Yoshi Tenoh himself. She took a few calming breaths and pulled her computer bag a little higher onto her shoulder.

"Haruka-san I think you scared her half to death." The female voice behind the blonde reminded Ami that she wasn't the only guest to the Tenoh household. It was a first for her, as the Tenoh's rarely had guests over for purely social reasons.

"Sorry Ami-chan, I didn't realize you hadn't heard us walk up." Haruka stepped inside and Ami was able to see again the young woman behind her. The teen seemed to tense up a bit as she looked to woman still standing in the doorway and she bowed a bit quickly.

"Good evening Kaioh-sama." Ami greeted, half afraid her voice would crack. Haruka had a smirk on her face showing she was clearly amused by the whole scene.

"Just call me Michiru, Mizuno-san." Michiru smiled and the young girl before her nodded mutely for a moment. Ami jumped again as Haruka slung an arm across her shoulders and looked at Michiru.

"Just call her Ami-chan; she's just a bit nervous." The blonde provided for the shy teen. Ami nodded slowly in agreement with the blonde next to her.

"Why so nervous, Ami-chan?" Michiru stepped into the room, smiling warmly toward the teen. Instead of an answer the now somewhat red teen unzipped a pocket of her computer bag and withdrew a CD case. A moment later Michiru was able to make out that it was one of her own albums.

"She has a lot more of them at home." Haruka provided before releasing Ami's shoulders and sighing. The blonde sobered a bit as she looked around the office, it's lighting casting a yellowish atmosphere that seemed perfectly suited to a writer. It wasn't very surprising once one noticed that a few shelves were filled with what looked to be hand typed manuscripts. "I haven't been in here for a long time."

"Whose office is this?" Michiru slowly strolled over to a book case and started to read over the various titles held by it.

"Yoshi-sempie's." Ami provided. Michiru paused and looked toward Haruka for clarification but the blonde seemed to have spaced out near the desk. She'd picked up a pipe and seemed to be examining it for something no one else could see. Ami noticed Michiru's slightly confused looked and walked over to stand beside her. Quietly the teen clarified her statement. "Yoshi Tenoh was Haruka-san's father."

"He spent loads of time in here or out front." Haruka suddenly spoke again and they both turned their attention back toward the blonde. "His favorite things to do were read, study and tutor Ami-chan. He loved to encourage us all to read, but Ami-chan took to it more than Hiroshi and I."

"It still smells like his tobacco in here." Ami remarked with a small smile as she closed her eyes and imagined the man sitting behind the desk with his bright teal eyes running over the pages of an old text book. "It wasn't a healthy habit."

"No, but I doubt either of us will ever be able to smell cherry tobacco with out remembering something about him." Haruka set the pipe down and turned to face them as she leaned against the desk. With a sigh the blonde swept her bangs from her face in a gesture that was meant to cover any emotions the room they were in brought on. "I was hoping to give you two a more informative introduction than one you received at dinner."

"Ami-chan, you already know who Michiru-san is but not why she's here." Haruka paused here as if trying to decide how to word what she was about to say. After a few moments she just gave in and went with the simplest way she could think of. "Her parents are here to decide who she should marry."

Ami blinked before she walked over to the door and slowly looked down the hall to either side. Once she was satisfied that no one was near by she gently closed it and turned back to look at Haruka herself. Again there was a strange pause as the older two just watched the teen, waiting for whatever reaction she would give. Ami composed herself and seemed to review what facts she had in her mind.

"They're here to choose between yourself and Hiroshi-sempie?" Ami questioned for the sake of clarification. Haruka nodded in confirmation and the teen paused only a moment before she could word her next question. There was an uncertain look on her face even as she spoke though. "Are they aware of your condition?"

"You mean my gender?" Haruka laughed lightly as Ami's eyes widened and shot over to watch Michiru's reaction. Instead of whatever she'd been expecting she noticed that the graceful violin player was giggling though she tried to hide it. Ami's blue eyes came back to land on Haruka as the blonde calmed down. Teal eyes turned toward Michiru and the blonde smirked playfully. "Michiru-san, are you aware that I am not a man?"

"Of course not Haruka-kun." Michiru replied playfully. She giggled again but took some pity on the teen that now seemed to be confused. With a warm smile the young violin player spoke to the teen. "I knew Haruka was female when I first met her, but no my parents do not. As far as I know they haven't noticed any hint of Haruka's real gender."

"Then why haven't you told them?" Ami looked back and forth between the two, clearly still confused at the current situation. She was clearly trying to make sense of the situation that was presented to her but seemed to be coming up dry. "Haruka-san, what are you going to do if they choose you?"

"I'm not really sure, maybe I'll take a vacation as a reward for playing my part well." The blonde smirked as Ami's blue eyebrows seemed to both raise another few centimeters at this comment.

"You want them to choose you?" Ami looked to Michiru and didn't see a single trace of surprise so she was caught off guard a second time. "You both want them to?"

"That's pretty much the plan." Haruka confirmed. She watched the teen, trying to not take too perverse of a joy in watching how the young genius was exercising quite a few brain cells to make sense of the input. After a few moments of complete silence Ami walked over to Haruka and held out her hand in a very serious manner.

"Congratulations Haruka-san. To be honest, I never thought you would settle down." Ami smiled even as Haruka suddenly began shaking her head.

"No, no, no." Haruka waved Ami's hand away and shook her head, looking to an amused Michiru for help and receiving only a smile. The blonde lightly shook both of Ami's shoulders as she spoke. "You've got it all wrong; we're just putting on a show. You know how Hiroshi is; I can't let someone like Michiru get tied down to him!"

"Don't listen to her; she's just getting cold feet." Michiru strode over with a mischievous look in her blue eyes as she approached. When she was beside them she gently turned Haruka's face to look at her, meeting confused teal eyes with warm blue as the blonde's arms fell limp. Ami started to smile and took a few steps back as Michiru loosely wrapped her arms about the blonde's neck and leaned close to her ear. "Why so shy koi?"

"What?" Haruka felt Michiru's breath washing over her ear and failed to suppress a shiver that ran down her spine. She was confused, thoroughly and completely. A few minutes ago, as she'd explained who Ami was to the violin player she'd felt completely in control but now the tables turned. The blonde felt like the world had suddenly inverted and she no longer knew which way was up. They were just pretending, right? It was an act, wasn't it? Was this part of it? Haruka looked into blue eyes so close to her own and she wasn't so sure anymore. She wasn't so sure why she was doing this. Was it really just to help a friend? Was Michiru her friend? Was there another reason? "I. . ."

"Is something wrong Haruka?" Michiru asked, gazing in apparent concern toward the blonde as she took a step back. Now the violin player's hands rested lightly on the race car driver's shoulders and the blonde looked utterly and completely speechless. She tried to say something but Michiru leaned ever closer and her mind went blank. She couldn't remember what she had been thinking a few seconds before. Michiru was dangerously close now.

Then a giggle escaped the violin player and she winked at the blonde. Haruka didn't know her well, but something told her what just transpired was extremely rare for the other young woman. Michiru playfully pecked the blonde on the cheek and turned quickly toward the teen who had watched the whole incident with a blush across her cheeks. Haruka was still confused; she had no idea what had just taken place.

"What do you think of our acting, Ami-chan?" Michiru asked in a warm tone full of mischief. The teen smiled as her blush died down and nodded in approval as she eyed the older women.

"You were very convincing, Michiru-sama." Ami shook her head as the blonde finally started to recover.

Haruka cleared her throat and coughed a few times, doing her best to cover her embarrassment. Of course Michiru was acting; they both knew what the plan was. They'd discussed it earlier today. There wasn't any reason for either of them to think anything more or less of it, was there? Haruka looked up again finally when Ami asked a question.

"But what are you going to do when they find out Haruka-san is female?"

"It won't get that far." Haruka responded, getting the attention of the other two women. The blonde smirked confidently to mask just how uncertain her own thoughts had been seconds ago. "But can we trust you not to tell anyone?"

"Of course Haruka-san." Ami paused with a slightly troubled look though before the matter could be fully settled. She seemed to think things over but after a few moments she shook her head. "I just hope you're both right about the out come of this plan."

"Do I ever get into trouble?" Haruka asked confidently but in a split second's time she had her answer from both women in near unison.

"Yes." Haruka blinked and gazed at them for a moment. After a second she smiled sheepishly and laughed at her own expense.

After everyone else had settled into their respective guest rooms Haruka walked Michiru back to her room. They stopped at the door and the blonde racer leaned against the wall casually.

"Are you afraid I'll get lost or do you just enjoy my company, Haruka-san?" Michiru smiled in a teasing manner and Haruka smirked back toward the shorter woman.

"Maybe it's a little of both." The blonde replied and was rewarded by a soft laugh from the woman standing before her. After a few moments Haruka stood straight just so she could lean close to the shorter woman and speak to her in a soft whisper. Haruka was close enough to catch a light blush even in the dark hallway. "Actually, I think there may be one problem with our little plan."

"Really?" Michiru raised an eyebrow as Haruka nodded and whispered again.

"I noticed it in the office." The blonde informed her and Michiru seemed to look even more quizzical at this. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Of course." Michiru replied with out a second thought. The moment she said it she saw Haruka's teal eyes shift away for a moment, as if the blonde were rethinking her own words. She touched the blonde's cheek gently and waited until those teal eyes came back to her own blue eyes. "What is it Haruka?"

Instead of any verbal answer Haruka leaned forward and their lips met for the first time. The blonde closed her eyes waiting to be slapped or for someone to come scream at her. Instead she felt Michiru pause for a heart beat, then two hands slid over her shoulders and two light arms draped over her shoulders. The blonde started to pull back, to ask a question, but the violin player tugged her closer instead. Haruka felt a sudden tingle shooting through her whole body, and even thought something in the back of her mind reminded her they were still the hall she couldn't make herself care about that. She let herself relax and wrapped her own arms around the younger woman's waist enjoying the still innocent kiss.

Finally Michiru broke the kiss and smiled up at the blonde whose eyes were still shut. The violin player could feel nervous butterflies dancing in her stomach as she waited for those teal eyes to open. It felt like forever before Haruka did open her eyes and they met each other's gaze.

"I don't see a problem Haruka." Michiru stated calmly as she let one hand experimentally play with the short hairs at the back of the blonde's neck.

"You're okay with this?" Haruka almost winced at how surprised she sounded, all her confidence seemed to have gone out the nearest window. Even though she'd acted on the emotions first the blonde wasn't expecting a good out come, she never did. She swallowed down the voice of Hiroshi in the back of her mind, determined to not live by the past right now. She wasn't so naive to think that everyone in the world was straight and she was an anomaly, she'd learned that wasn't true a long time ago. Still, the blonde's mind was spinning at the possibility that there was someone who might actually just accept her as herself.

"Are you okay?" Michiru asked worriedly as she noticed that Haruka wasn't just thoughtful she was pale. The tall woman looked as if she'd suddenly come down with something even as she looked up into Michiru's blue eyes again. Haruka's lips moved as if she was about to speak but nothing came out. After a moment Michiru slipped one her hands down to the woman's arm, the other opened the door in front of which they stood. Haruka followed soundlessly into the dark room beyond with out noticing a pair of eyes watching the two.

**Author's Note: **This actually still feels a bit choppy to me this time but I decided to go with it, let me know if you think I should have stuck with my feeling that it was choppy. Oh, and don't get any highly rated thoughts people, our favorite pair didn't go in to the room for the sake of physical impulse. It will be explained next chapter what the two are up to. It's odd, but even here on chapter nine I am debating if they kissed too early. laughs Don't kill me with flames for that fact okay.

What a week this has been. At work I felt like I was going crazy on Monday. I came in happy and playful, going as far as spiking my hair and coloring it a royal blue color for the hell of it. I guess I was hoping to get my mind off all the aches and pains I had, fat chance. I was basically forced to run 2 miles while on muscle relaxing pills for a back injury. This left me feeling horrible, as if I'd pulled everything below my shoulders. Then I had to come in and work my job that requires lots of lifting… And that got worse than normal, requiring me to lift shopping carts full of merchandise over walls of boxes with very little if any help. Then I got into an argument with a co-worker because our instructions from the team lead conflicted. The whole night was nothing but a headache and I was more than happy to clock out.

Yesterday was another long adventure. I felt bad most of the day, failing to keep my sister calm as we ran all over town trying to get $200 dollars together for the wonderful electric company. My sisters-in-laws dumped an over due bill on her and if we hadn't come up with the money the power would have been shut off. While I don't live at that house, my two nephews and their two cousins do. I basically got frustrated and stated if it were just her parents-in-law I'd leave them to deal with their mess, but as it involved the four little boys there was no way. (Not to mention I'd help my sister if it meant push a dead car through a down pour, up hill for two miles or more)

The saddest part of the day was that when we got back I went to help my nephew find something. My two Beta fish have been in my sister's care for a few months and I decided to check on them. In all the chaos of the day she hadn't gotten a chance to warn me that the male had died. It was ridicules but I walked out and kind just looked lost going "My fish is gone.". My sister basically finally just lost her control and started crying out right. For my fish. It was a very long day.

Important note, I'm rushing this out also because I was afraid I wouldn't get decent time to work on it and post it otherwise. I have been instructed to lose some weight and run more other the next few weeks. Though I won't get into the detail of what happens if I don't I will say this may take up more of my time then I'd like. I'll try not to leave you all hanging though, hence posting this now. Oh, and the good side of this is I haven't had soda or fast food in four days and I've already lost a few pounds with out really trying. Please wish me luck; the better I do the faster I can shift some more energy back to writing again.

**Review Responses: In no particular order, as always.**

**Heat Queen: **Thank you, I was trying. I had a bit of a fear of writing Hiroshi for a time so he fell into short one line appearances for a few chapters. The poor guy is actually a big part of where the story idea came from. Michiru's parents are proving to be more of a challenge partly because I plan to have an interesting scene involving them later and I'm afraid of making that scene pointless. They feel very static when I write them right now. Like instead of saying "Hi. What's up?" they are coming out the type to say "Hello. How are you today?" Then again, maybe that's just the fact that I'm around too many people speaking slang these days. A co-worker pages nightly for our manager to dial "foo foo seven" or 447. Let me know what you think of the Kaiohs and Ami.

**Glowie: **Thank you for being so patient. B-) I was so tempted to have a big issue over Ami, though I do plan to revisit Michiru's initial thoughts at the appearance of my favorite genius. She's a fun character and I am hoping to work out the kinks I run into writing for her. Hiroshi and Haruka, aw the hell of it is if you could do a character interview (it'd be a funny skit) those probably couldn't explain their problems to you. Still, I'll make sure the main ones are clear by the end of the story for you.

**Petyaka: **Thank you. Everyone seems to like the addition of Ami. B-) If you like her, please keep your eyes open. Once I've gotten Choices finished I am planning to get "Summer" reworked and posted. It centers on Ami and Makoto, with Minako running amuck.

**Smartieox: **B-) If it helps any I've had to shower and dress in record time any number of nights due to reading "I Want to Believe in Someone" or "Her Protector". (I can't recall who they are by right this second) If it weren't for work, and my nephews and all the little emergencies of my days I'd be boarded out of my mind I swear. Yesterday the emergency was come up with $200 with only $4 in my wallet, and do it in as little time as possible. I like my night job, really I do, but Monday night I was ready to walk out or lock myself in the bathroom. Ah well, maybe tonight will be better.

**Silas II: **lol! No, I guess you don't have to wait long. Welcome back to ff . net by the way. B-)

**Hp sailor star luver: **Thank you, I hope I have kept the quality up. If not, please let me know and I'll try to make the next chapter better.

**Gaara the bloody: **Thank you.

**Spinx: **B-) Thank you I've tried to make my invented/original characters as helpful as I can with out having them become annoying props. I specialize in AU due to the fact that I have not seen the complete series so I feel more adapt at writing about them in different situations and lives. Hiroshi himself is a challenge though because he is a meld between fiction and the sad out come of someone close to me who got pulled to deep into drugs. I guess that gives me a bit of an edge on his character.

**Shalimar 23: **Here's an update, I hope that it can still live up to the last few chapters. B-)


End file.
